The fair commenced with a consignment of R3 beef and beef-cross steers. These hill country cattle still had plenty of room to grow and Angus-cross, 416-462kg, earned $3.04-$3.06/kg, and the remainder, $2.84-$2.93/kg.
For a fair throughput was low as 600 store cattle were penned and a handful of prime steers and cows. There was an almost spring-like feel in the air which brought out a few more local buyers than anticipated and also joining them was a buyer from Masterton, who took around 100 cattle with his focus on R2 Hereford-Friesian steers. The extra buying power pushed the Hereford-Friesian steers, 370-435kg, to $3.00-$3.10/kg, which was a significant lift on the June fair. Heavier lines, 487-516kg, also made good value at $2.91/kg, with the lesser lines of beef-cross and beef-Friesian selling at the level that the better cattle were making a month ago. The R2 heifer section was small in comparison but the market firmed as beef-Friesian, 368-401kg, traded at $2.79-$2.84/kg.
The R1 pens posted some very good weights, as a number of lines of beef-Friesian steers exceeded 240kg. Buyers found a bit more in their budgets and the market lifted $85-$125 on June results. Hereford-Friesian steers, 220-240kg, made $880-$905, and Angus-Friesian, 230-260kg, $820-$870.
A line of Charolais-cross heifers, 260kg, were out of Angus-Friesian cows and sold exceptionally well at $932.
