Wodonga cows with calves sell to $4800 at feature sale

Agents yarded about 2500 cattle at the market in what agents described as a buoyant sale with plenty of competition among local restockers and feedlotters.

Brian Unthank Rural director Michael Unthank said prices across all categories of cattle were slightly higher compared to recent weeks.

"There was a good run of Angus steers which started off with feeder-weight steers making similar rates to recent sales, between 600c/kg to 650c/kg," he said.

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"Then we ran onto a very good run of spring-drop calves which were lighter in weight and were making from $2000 up to $2300, anywhere from 700c/kg up to 850c/kg for lighter calves."

He said prices across the black and Euro lines, along with the Herefords, followed similar trends.

"All the feeder heifers made 500c/kg to 570c/kg and then lighter-weight heifers made 600c/kg to 800c/kg depending on the weight," Mr Unthank said.

"There was a good crowd of people up here."

He said cropping areas to the north and west received up to 30 millimetres of rain last week, but grazing areas to the south and east were in need of rain.

A feature draft of the sale was account Fairfield Park, Greta South, which sold 450 mixed-sex spring-drop Angus weaners, Lawson's Angus blood, including 170 heifers.

Sixty-five steers, 320kg, made $2300 or 718c/kg, followed by 100 steer calves across four pens, 285kg, made $2250 or 789c/kg.

Corcoran Parker director Kevin Corcoran said the lightest pens of the Fairfield Park steer calves sold to a top price 840c/kg.

He said the lead pen of the Fairfield Park heifers weighed 285kg and sold for $1880.

"We had 65 calves from Sparcorp from Mansfield which were pure Angus weaners and they weighed 265 kilos and they made $2200 or about 830c/kg," Mr Corcoran said.

"This sale is very much a feature sale for us and most of the cattle feature many, many years of breeding.

"All the quality lines of breeders' weaners went to bullock fatteners in the local region, while the quality lines of the heifers also went to people with the intention of rejoining."

Sharlock Pastoral, Kiewa Valley, sold a pen of Angus heifers with calves at foot for $4800.

The Homelands Pastoral, Gundowring, sold 40 Angus steers including 24 steers, 392kg, for $2390 or 609c/kg and 14 steers, 362kg, for $2260 or 624c/kg.

J and R Scales, Darmouth, sold 10 Hereford steers, 412kg, for $2400 or 582c/kg.

Lee Hodgkin, Mitta, sold 50 Hereford steers including 20 steers, 347kg, for $2310 or 665c/kg and 27 steers, 287kg, for $2030 or 707c/kg.

R and L Bethune, Mitta, sold 11 Hereford heifers, 435kg, for $2270 or 521c/kg.

Heatherlie Pastoral, Tallangatta Valley, sold 15 composite heifers, 300kg, for $1810 or 603c/kg.

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