On a per-kilogram basis, prices were similar to last year, PGG Wrightson Canterbury livestock manager Grant Nordstrom said.
With mainly traditional lines offered at Wednesday’s opening of the two-day annual sale, the market had a good feel to it and plentiful feed around the region contributed to a lot of local buying.
About 100 of the 820 or so calves offer were sold to a North Island buyer.
The best price of $1350 a head was paid for a pen of Angus steer calves offered by ME and GE Spencer, of Parnassus. They were bigger calves at about 336kg for a $4.03/kg return, Hazlett Rural general manager Ed Marfell said.
A pen of lighter Angus steer calves, 308kg, from the same vendor fetched $1330 or $4.32/kg.
A bigger pen, 357kg, of Angus-Hereford steer calves offered by Blue Grey went for $1360 at $3.81/kg.
Over the sale, for heavier steer calves, the going rate was about $4/kg, rising to $4.70/kg for lighter animals for an average in the $4.40 to $4.50 range. For heifer calves prices were $3.90/kg to $4.20/kg.
A bigger yarding might have put more pressure on heifer calf prices, Marfell said. Most were bought for finishing rather than breeding.
The first day of the Cheviot sale is for calves from the township north to Kaikoura with Thursday’s second day for calves from the township south to Greta Valley and with more exotic breeds such as Charolais, Nordstrom said.
The Wrightson first-day catalogue included two pens of Charolais steer calves at $1020, about $4.27/kg, and a pen of heifers at the same price.
The best Wrightson price was for a pen of Angus-Hereford steer calves at $1270, $4.18kg, offered by R Hough of Parnassus. Hundalee Hills sold a pen of Angus steers for $1220 at $4.25/kg.
A smaller yarding of about 450 calves at the Culverden sale Friday March 23 attracted strong competition from a large buyer bench and prices averaged about 20c/kg more than at Cheviot one day one, Marfell said.
A strong annual Glenlyon and Huxley Gorge Station calf sale at Temuka on Wednesday was reported by Wrightson’s South Canterbury livestock manager Joe Higgins.
The top price of $1120 for the top 20 Angus-Hereford steer calves was just $10 below last year’s top at what was an exceptional sale, he said.
All the calves were sold to South Island buyers, mostly into Mid Canterbury but also to North Canterbury and as far south as Otautau in Southland. A lot of regular, repeat buyers were active.
The second tier Angus-Hereford steer calves, about 150, sold at $1070 a head and the 40 next best at $910.
The top 22 Hereford steer calves sold at $1110 and the next 46 at $1050 with prices down to $760.
Straight-black Angus Hereford heifer calves achieved a top price of $930 with prices down to $790.
Straight Angus heifer calves were $880 and Herefords sold between $900 and $660.
The calves, weaned a week before the sale, weighed between 160kg and 240kg.
