SA cattle summary
03 February 2012
Increased yardings
Despite SA LE having a smaller mixed quality yarding, Naracoorte’s numbers increased marginally, with Mt. Gambier’s numbers climbing back to over 2,200 head after last week’s much small pre Australia Day yarding. Millicent had a slightly larger yarding after a two week break.
The SA LE’s yarding sold to an easing trend provided by the usual trade and export buyers, with feeder and restocker orders also bidding cautiously. Few vealers were penned, while the yearling that made up the bulk of the yarding generally sold at lower levels. The few grown and manufacturing steers were cheaper, the C3 grown heifers dearer and the cows basically unchanged.
Naracoorte’s generally improved quality yarding included good quality supplementary fed yearlings. In the early runs these sold to strong demand from the usual SA and Victorian trade and export buyers, before losing steam as quality varied in the later runs. This only tended to lead to a fluctuating priced sale. Naracoorte’s Thursday sale of 4,200 pregnancy tested heifers and cows may also test the resolve of buyers trying to purchase well bred cattle.
Mt. Gambier’s larger yarding attracted strong trade and export competition from the usual SA and Victorian buyers at generally dearer levels. Feeder and restocker orders were quite active on a mixture of vealers and yearlings, together with some cows and bulls. Vealer steers attracted strong Victorian wholesale demand sold up to 247¢/kg, with the heifer portion very erratic and hard to follow at times. Millicent’s yarding sold to steady demand emanating from the usual buying contingent.
A dearer trend
It was a generally dearer market trend, despite the lower prices paid at the SA LE’s small yarding. Vealer steers to mainly Victorian wholesale demand sold from 195¢ to 247¢ with lightweights at the higher end, at prices mostly unchanged to 10¢/kg dearer despite many carrying plenty of weight. Feeder and restockers sourced increased numbers from 188c to 212¢/kg also at dearer levels. Vealer heifers attracted erratic competition, as most to the trade sold from 179¢ to 225¢ with a single to 250¢ that left prices varying from 9¢ to 14¢ dearer, and others unchanged to 18¢/kg cheaper.
Medium and heavy weight yearlings with some having been supplementary fed sold from 160¢ to 218¢, at prices 3¢ to 18¢/kg dearer. Feeders and restockers sourced steers from 165¢ to 195¢ at generally lower levels. Yearling heifer ranged between 160¢ and 199¢ at prices unchanged to 4¢/kg lower.
Grown steers attracted prices mainly between 168¢ and 194¢, to be around 12¢ dearer and averaging 325¢/kg cwt statewide. Beef medium and heavy cows sold mainly from 126¢ to 147¢ to be 1¢ to 6¢ dearer, or generally 245¢ to 290¢/kg cwt.
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