The North Island is well and truly into the swing of spring cattle sales, even though the official start of the season is a few weeks away yet. But a mild winter has confused even the daffodils and it is typical for some of the yards on earlier country to get into these sales at the beginning of August, to spread out the amount of cattle that hit the spring markets and to clear the decks for lambing and calving.
The sentiment at each sale was clear – demand for older, well-bred short-term cattle was strong as they rode on the back of low supplies in this class, but for yearlings it was a fraction too early as buyers hold off for grass growth.
It was a big day on the calendar at the Kauroa Saleyards in Waikato, as the spring cattle fair held on Thursday was one of just three events at the yards this year. Anticipation builds to this sale, always held in the first week of August, and farmers within well-defined boundary lines farm to it. Most of the cattle are yearlings and the sale features a large number of homebred annual draft Angus, while trade cattle make up much of the balance.
Volume grew to one of the largest total tallies at 1200, as two-years of very strong prices meant more buyers wanted a piece of the action. However, according to both PGG Wrightson’s Vaughn Larsen and New Zealand Farmers Livestock’s Brent Bougen, the high prices of the past few years put off some buyers and the market was much more realistic in the current environment.
“Last year’s sale was an absolute ripper and that actually put some of the regular buyers off. We had buyers from Manawatū, Bay of Plenty, King Country, Thames Valley and local, but most were new faces. It was challenging enough but went okay within the current market,” Bougen said.
For some annual draft lines, the price correction was up to $200, though Bougen says in some cases the third cuts sold better than the tops.
“Last year the top cut of a consignment made $1150 and this year $950. But the second cut made $925 and then the third $940,” he said.
The cattle are sold in their pens and Larsen says it was an impressive sight to see the yards so full.
“They were full to the gunnels and it was a bit of a logistical challenge to find pens for everything, but we got there,” Larsen said.
He agreed that it was a challenge to get buyers to come forward this year.
“We had the volume to attract the buyers and we tried to get a bit of horsepower, but people are on top of their grass still, so it was just a bit too early,” he said.
“Some years the early sale is fine, but last year we had a lot of interest from Manawatū, which was not there this year due to feed levels and high prices over the last few years.
“Vendors, however, farm to this sale and most will take what is offered on the day, and prices were in-line with where they are at present.”
A small R2 section started the sale in very wet conditions following solid rain in the lead-up, though none fell during the auction. Most were exotic-cross and sold well at $1735-$2100. Homebred Angus steers were the main feature in the R1 pens, and the auctioneers noted they were renowned for their shifting ability. The top pens made $1010-$1130 and second cuts, $890-$950. The balance returned $780-$840. One big pen of Charolais-cross was passed in, but two other pens had good weight and sold for $1130-$1295.
The balance of the steer section was dairy-beef and a low volume of good Hereford-Friesian made $1035-$1105 and the remainder, $720-$950. Heifers were good buying, as Angus traded at $550-$730 and a pen of purebred Hereford reached $700.
Wellsford started their spring cattle sales with a grown cattle fair and Matawhero also kicked off the season with a 1200-head sale. Reports on these sales can be found in the Sale Yard Wrap.
