With Easter out of the way and widespread rain renewing pastures, buyers are back on the rail bidding with confidence to take advantage of the thousands of weaner steers and heifers hitting the market.
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Annual weaner sales from as far south as Cooma, Carcoar in the Central Tablelands, and into the north at Inverell, Glen Innes, Armidale and Tamworth have given feedlots, restockers and backgrounders plenty of opportunity to replenish supplies before winter.
Weaners sold at Cooma on Wednesday last week hit the market before the rain, but buyers seemed confident the autumn break was just around the corner.
Will Dixon, Monaro Livestock and Property, Cooma, said cattle were in excellent condition despite the dry finish.
"I thought it could have been $100 to $150 [a head] dearer in places than a fortnight ago," he said.
Buyers who took the punt on rain to freshen up pastures were rewarded with falls of 40 to 60 millimetres recorded across the Monaro, 75mm at Boorowa, and about 70mm in the Crookwell and Taralga districts.
The widespread rain across southern NSW was also timely for cattle producers offering their annual drafts of steers and heifers at Tumut today.
Rob Stubbs, Elders Tumut, reported 83mm of rain, while other reports indicated up to 100mm around the Tumut district and he expected this would strengthen the cattle market.
Feedlots were hard to beat on the heavy pens of weaners at Carcoar last Friday, where most vendors reported their draft of calves were heavier than last year.
But, the feedlot competition gave way to backgrounders and restockers, who, reinvigorated by rainfall the night before and that morning, bid up on the middle and lighter runs of calves.
Elders Emms Mooney livestock manager Ben Emms, Blayney, said there were 10,777 cattle sold at Carcoar and it "was an absolutely magnificent yarding of calves".
"When you got onto the lighter calves, I suppose it was around 420c/kg to 430c/kg and into the real small steers they were getting up towards 500c/kg, but it was solid right throughout the day," he said.
In the state's north last week, Garvin and Cousens agent Andrew Warden, Tamworth, said weaner sales were affected in a "very positive way" by falls of as much as 60mm in the North West and New England.
He said steers were up $100 to $150 at Tamworth's weaner sale last Friday, but smaller, lighter steers were up as much as $300.
"But there was also good buying in smaller, lighter heifers and steers that could be put away," he said.
"Heifers were up $100 to $200, depending upon quality."
