Dairy cows dominated a much-reduced offering of 260 cattle. The reduction in number was much easier for buyers to cope with and prices regained ground lost over the past two weeks.
Friesian and Friesian-cross cows, 460-585kg, sold for $1.43-$1.58/kg, while lighter boners traded at $1.26-$1.39/kg. Jersey and Jersey-cross cows made $1.25-$1.36/kg for 358-440kg. Beef cow numbers were limited to small lines of Hereford and Angus, with most fetching $1.70-$1.82/kg.
Beef heifers sold on a firm market, with 445-640kg earning $2.44-$2.58/kg, while Friesians, 381-395kg, made $2.23-$2.25/kg.
Ten steers were sold with prime types achieving $2.70-$2.73/kg, plainer types $2.57-$2.58/kg.
Vendors made the most of the long weekend with numbers very low in the sheep pens. One thousand store lambs were all mixed-sex, and sold on a steady market at $47-$71. Prime lamb and ewe numbers were hardly enough to make a stew and again prices remained steady. Lambs sold for $75-$98, while light to medium ewes earned $30-$59, and up to $60-$79 for the better end.
