IT WAS another busy day at Leongatha VLE with Thursday’s Store Sale attracting 4500 head, Meat & Livestock Australia analyst Brendan Fletcher rating the quality on offer as “very good”.
His report noted there were over 700 heavy Angus steers, those animals attracting feedlot competition that pushed prices up, with Brendan putting the rise at $100 a head for cattle over 400kg, that rise also applying to heifers in that weight division.
“Lightweight steers under 300kg sold to softer competition from northern orders and gave back $100 a head, while the heifer portion sold $70 a head dearer,” he wrote.
Medium-weight cattle between 300-400kg maintained their price.
Alex Scott & Staff livestock manager Dave Setches labelled it a stronger market than a fortnight ago.
“Fierce feedlot competition on those feeder weight cattle from 400 to 600 plus kilos, I would have thought it could be 15 to 20 cents a kilo dearer,” he said, noting steers in the 500-kilo bracket pushed out to $4.58 a kilo.
That is attributable to the high numbers of cattle sold over recent months due to conditions and associated feed and water shortages.
“These feedlot blokes are wondering where these feedlot cattle are going to come from later on,” Dave said, so concerns of a shortage of feeder weight cattle coming into Spring are driving current demand in the category.
He spoke of the unprecedented sell-off statewide, with many opting to sell Spring drop calves rather than hold onto them through the winter.
Predicting a shortage of feeder-weight cattle come Spring, Dave expects those who have the feed and water to get cattle through the winter and into that category will achieve impressive prices.
“It’s going to create a buoyant market coming into Springtime,” he said of the expected shortfall in supply.
As for Spring drop calves being sold on Thursday, Dave put prices at between $50 and $100 cheaper per head in places but noted “They still did top out at $4.88 a kilo in our sale.”
He remarked that the overall drop in prices for that category may have been partly attributable to competition from Wodonga, the Saleyards there offering 5000 head, with the town’s proximity to NSW meaning less travel for northern buyers.
Dave added that very few of the Spring drop calves sold in Leongatha on Thursday remained in the local area.
A NSW buyer provided a boost on the heifer side of the sale, planning to fatten some and join the better ones.
