North Island activity was also very strong with major sales venue Feilding putting high tallies through at markedly improved prices.
The main South Island season ended with the Canterbury Park sales on Thursday and it was probably the strongest of any, PGG Wrightson South Island livestock manager Shane Gerken said.
“It was the last traditional sale of the season and the last opportunity for many buyers to top up their number so there was a lot of competition.”
Heavier steers, 220kg to 280kg, made $4.40/kg to $4.50/kg and lighter steers even higher at more than $5.
“Those prices were an exception rather than the rule but over the season the average was still very strong,” Gerken said.
He thought the South Island average for steers was in the $4.40 to $4.50 range. That compared with an average $3.70/kg to $3.80/kg last year.
As well as the price gain, excellent recent pasture growth in many cattle-raising areas meant stock were 10kg to 20kg heavier so the all-up returns left vendors very happy, he said.
Generally, there is a 30c/kg to 40c/kg gap to weaner heifers but that gap was on average lower this year with prices $4.20/kg to $4.30.
Wrightson’s North Island livestock manager Tom Mowat said the sale season was a fantastic one, starting strongly in Northland “and getting better and better”.
“We’re at the tail-end and it’s still going. There will be some very delighted vendors and some nervous buyers hoping values stay up.”
NZX Agri analyst Reece Brick said 12,700 weaner cattle were sold through at Feilding, the highest tally in several years and up from 11,900 last year with vendors taking home an average $1000 an animal, up from $810 last year. The main sale season also finished last week.
Average prices were about $4.55/kg, up from $3.80/kg with weights up about 7kg. In line with the established trend, heavier animals sold better early in the season and lighter stock better as the season went on.
At Stortford Lodge in Hastings the average price over the season was lower at about $4.20kg, largely because of an earlier sale schedule, Brick said. Stortford weights were also lower than last year because of the very dry mid-summer in Hawke’s Bay.
The South Island price improvement was caused by several demand factors, including farmers in former drought regions, notably North Canterbury, coming into the market after a very favourable late summer/autumn, Gerken said.
Added to that, there was real confidence in the beef market, reflected in the attractive schedule levels. Whether the schedule remained elevated to keep their margins intact was also the question for weaner buyers but those farmers buying year-in and year-out knew margins were better some years than others.
A number of buyers new to the beef market also emerged this year, mainly farmers previously operating in dairy support grazing but now looking to get in their own stock.
Gerken expected many vendors would spend some of their gains on new capital stock after reducing numbers in the earlier dry conditions. Many heifers bought at the sales would also probably be kept for breeding by some buyers.
The Canterbury farm sale followed another strong sale in Blenheim on Wednesday, where prices were just slightly lower.
This year there was also an onfarm weaner calf sales programme in the wider Wanaka area of central Otago, with stock from seven high-country properties, the first sale being at Mt Aspiring Station.
The programme was organised by Wrightson agent Craig Knight, following the closure of the Cromwell sale yards last year.
Wrightson agents described the sales as “smoking hot”.
With 1353 calves sold, the average price was $985, and the top price was $1460 a head for a line of West Wanaka Station Hereford bull calves. Prices averaged $4.50 to $4.60/kg for steers and $4.20 to $4.30/kg for heifers, Gerken said.
The hill country calves were in demand for their very good genetics and typically did well for their buyers.
About 100 buyers, including some from the North Island, followed the programme. North Island buyers had also been at other sales but had not been big buyers because of the strong pricing, he said.
Brick said North Islanders were significant buyers in the South Island at lower prices than in the north most seasons because widespread dry ground conditions lifted sale numbers and limited South Island buyers.
That wasn’t the case this year and North Island buyers would have had freight costs to contend with on top of the higher pricing.
