CONFIDENCE and prices were high at today’s Leongatha Store Sale following good recent rain.
“It was a grass driven market,” SEJ livestock agent Owen Kindellan said.
Auctioneer Jimmy Kyle, fondly known to those at SEJ as ‘Hollywood’ lived up to his showbusiness moniker by achieving some terrific prices, other agencies also thriving on the day.
A highlight for SEJ was the sale of Randall & Weston Angus calves from Welshpool, described by Owen as “very quiet and well bred”, with a pen of 21 steers weighing an average of 216 kilos achieving $7.22 a kilo at $1,560 per head.
Another pen of 13 Randall & Weston steers, averaging 280 kilos, went for $1,770 apiece or $6.32 a kilo.
Heifers from the same source also fetched excellent prices, with 32 sold to a top of $1,340, that price being for animals weighing an average of 276 kilos, equating to $4.85 a kilo.
Another pen of Randall & Weston heifers averaging 225 kilos sold for $1,070 or $4.75 a kilo.
SEJ’s Owen labelled the day’s prices as “well above the last three weeks”.
Jack Ginnane of Nutrien South Gippsland Livestock knocked down a pen of 22 Angus heifers from RA Jones in Glen Forbes for $5.53 per kilo, having described those cattle as “nice and quiet”.
They weighed an average of 260 kilos and went for $1,440 each, with another pen of 24 RA Jones heifers averaging 235 kilos, making $5.23 a kilo when they sold for $1,230.
“Everyone got a good price for heifers,” MLA market reporter Brendan Fletcher told the Sentinel-Times, adding that steers also impressed, being dearer, noting there was strong competition, mostly locals with less feedlot competition.
He noted that while big steers were a bit dearer, there was a bigger price jump for light steers, attributing that jump to confidence driven by recent rain that was perfectly timed.
Dave Pickersgill of Mount Eccles explained how recent rain has altered his outlook for the season in terms of growing feed and stock levels.
“By now I was expecting it to be yellow and dry, so we kept our numbers down; now I’ve got feed everywhere and instead of hunting grass, we’re hunting cattle,” he said.
He succeeded in picking some up at the Store Sale, buying 15 Angus Friesian steers weighing an average of 326 kilos for $1,500 a head or $4.60 per kilo.
“I’ve bought these cattle for many years, and I know what they’ll do,” Dave said, with their proven ability to put on weight justifying the cost.
A Store Sale regular described prices as “too high” but didn’t want her name used, another sale goer quipping she should be referred to as “the cattle baroness of Gippsland”.
Sentinel-Times heard one man remarking on heifer prices of $4.70 to $5, which based on those this scribe saw sell was very much in the ballpark in general, albeit some went well beyond the upper end of that range.
