Thursday, March 28, 2024

Busy week for virtual stock sales

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The virtual livestock selling world was a busy place last week with online auctions held from Tuesday to Friday.
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There appeared to be more optimism for older steers, at least, which was reflected in a firmer market for R2 steers at Frankton.

The news of the week came from the Bidr Carnmor Jersey complete dispersal sale on Thursday when lot 170, Carnmor Stars Trixie, sold for $22,200 after spirited bidding from three parties.

On Tuesday Petere Walsh and Associates’ LiveBId held an in-calf cow and heifer sale, hosted by Snow Buckley and a new face to the bunker in Hamish Zuppicich. 

The paucity of grass available in the South Island along with the processor backlog meant viewers were hesitant to bid despite the chance to buy good genetic lines from proven herds.

One station put forward an entire mob of capital stock Angus that were low in condition but with their good reputation most attracted bids. 

The top cut were third and fourth calving cows, estimated at 440kg, that earned $900-$925 while fifth and sixth calving cows, also 440kg, made $850. 

The expiry of a farm lease forced another collection of capital stock to market and 34 mixed-age Angus cows, 590kg, traded at $1025. A line of 520kg in-calf R3 heifers from the same farm topped the day at $1275.

Close to 600 cattle were penned at the New Zealand Farmers Livestock livestream auction at Frankton on Wednesday. Quality sold well in the mixed yarding and vendors were happy to meet the market on lesser types.

Fourteen R2 Angus steers, 370kg, held value at $2.43/kg and top-quality Hereford-Friesian, 408kg, lifted 20c/kg to $2.50/kg. A consignment of Galloway-cross steers, 280-456kg, returned $2.22-$2.31/kg. R2 Charolais-cross heifers, 280-303kg, topped their section at $2.48-$2.50/kg. Beef-dairy heifers, 261-330kg, traded from $1.70/kg to $1.91/kg while six Hereford-Friesian, 395kg, improved to $2.25/kg.

All weaner steers, 189-219kg, earned $480-$510. Fourteen Angus heifers, 208kg, fetched $540, with Hereford-Friesian, 175-217kg, at $450-$505. Weaner Friesian bulls, 193-233kg, fetched $2.19-$2.25/kg while a quality line at 160kg pushed to $2.75/kg. 

A small prime section was dominated by boner cows with Friesian, 446-585kg, steady at $1.30-$1.31/kg while Jersey-cross, 445-528kg, improved to $1.29-$1.33/kg.

Taranaki followed with the same system last Thursday and put most of the 265 store and 57 boner cattle in new homes. It was a positive day and R3 steers strengthened slightly as Hereford-Friesian, 576kg, earned $2.40/kg. R2 steers had good demand and most sold in a range of $2.37/kg to $2.48/kg with Hereford-Friesian, 362kg, reaching $2.51/kg while the bottom end typically made $2.28-$2.37/kg. R2 heifers were more challenging and vendors met the market with only a small portion able to make it over $2/kg. 

Weaner steers, 188-251kg, traded at $620-$650 with lighter weights $480 and below. Heifers were mostly good-quality owner-bred lines that traded at $450-$540 while owner-bred, big-framed Friesian bulls, 278kg, were very good buying at $550.

A small number of prime steers, 715kg, sold for $2.47/kg while the heaviest empty boner cows made the same money as in-calf cows at $1.30-$1.36/kg.

Bidr had mixed results as North Island auctions felt the pressure of limited demand but the South Island equivalent was more successful. At a King Country in-calf Ssale on Wednesday three lots sold – 19 R3 Angus heifers, vetted-in-calf to an Angus bull, fetched $1150 while two lots of Simmental-Hereford cows, vetted-in-calf to a Hereford bull, traded at $1000-$1100. 

The South Island auction on Thursday featured a good coverage of the island and 500 mainly two-year cattle were entered. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 455kg, made the top price at $2.24/kg and two lots of Speckle Park, 410-420kg, varied from $1.96/kg to $2.18/kg. The top line of R2 heifers was Angus and Angus-Hereford, 440kg, which sold for $2.20/kg while Hereford-Friesian, 458kg, returned $2.15/kg. A big collection of 140 R2 Friesian bulls, 380kg, all from hill country near Akaroa, were drafted into three lots and went under the hammer for $1.89/kg, $2.01/kg and $2.07/kg respectively.

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