A DRAFT of locally reared steers stole the show at Friday's Tamworth store cattle sale, reaching a top of $2640 a head.
The pen of 17 to 20-month-old Angus steers offered by Betty Cargo, Gowrie, were a highlight of the section, which was up on the the category high of $2585/hd at the last sale.
Most pens of yearling steers sold from $2000 to $2300, while the top price of $2350 for Angus weaner steers was down from a top of $2495 at the last sale and most pens sold from $1800 to $2000.
Tamworth stock agent Scott Newberry, Davidson Cameron and Company, said steers were a highlight of the 4300 head yarding.
"There was some viable cattle on offer in the range of $1500 to $1700, which represented pretty good value," Mr Newberry said.
Hereford and Angus-cross heifers offered by Ian Colwell, Walcha, proved to be atop the category, selling for $2300 and $2320 respectively, while most older heifers sold from $1800 to $2100.
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Meanwhile, weaner heifers were back from the $2320 peak at the last sale, reaching $2120, while most pens sold for about $1500 to $1900.
Walcha stock agent Andrew Blomfield, Pitt Sons, said the heifer market continued to strengthen at Friday's sale.
"Overall, it was a pretty good yarding but the better quality heifers were bringing a premium," Mr Blomfield said.
"Some of the secondary-quality heifers were probably a bit off the market, but overall the heifer job is still going pretty well."
Cows with calves enjoyed an uptick in prices, going from a top of $3975 a unit at the last sale to $4000 for two pens of Angus cows with calves.
Despite making up a small portion of the overall yarding, cows with calves continued to sell well with most pens fetching from $3475 to the $4000 top.
"Those Angus cows had their first calf at foot and were really high quality," Mr Blomfield said.
"Some of the older cows were selling around the mid $3000 mark, but overall the category was pretty strong again."
The majority of the limited pregnancy-tested-in-calf cows offered sold from $2500 a unit to a top of $3560, which was slightly up from the last sale, which reached a top of $3525.
The sale was conducted by the Tamworth Livestock Selling Agents Association.
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Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
