Competition was strong from the first pen to the last, and it didn't make any difference that the yarding was mainly halfbred. Budgets starting at $138 were needed for the mainly mixed sex line-up, though that was only for a handful of light lambs at $137-$140. The remainder varied from medium types to heavy, but a tight price range of $150-$167 meant per head budgets were in play. One line of medium-good wether sold for $165.
All of the above was repeated in the prime lamb pens, where volume also fell and prices lifted. Here budgets of $170 plus were required for the majority, with over half of the lambs selling for $190-$221.
The ewes did not exactly look cheap compared to the lambs either and a top price of $256 was achieved. A few ewes sold for $90-$125, though most of the trading happened at $130-$188.
Breeding ewe numbers were very low, but a line of 20 in-lamb sold to $214, while nine ewes with nine lambs-at-foot made $105 all counted.
An easy day in the rostrum had just 153 head penned and good competition meant the sale flowed freely. Cows, and more specifically Friesian cows, made up the majority of the sale though Angus did make a bit of an appearance.
One buyer dominated the cow market, taking home the majority of both the dairy and beef lines. Friesian cows, 471-568kg, lifted 20-25c/kg to 2.13-$2.18/kg, while heavier types, 580-605kg, were firm at $2.23-$2.26/kg. Angus cows sold in two main price ranges of $2.20-$2.30/kg for 530-595kg, and $2.39-$2.44/kg for 600kg plus.
Strong demand from a wide bench of buyers for prime cattle meant a firm to lifting tone across the board. High yielding steers easily cracked $3.00/kg, with all beef and beef-cross lines trading at $2.90/kg and better. Heifers were quick to follow that trend and a lone Angus, 590kg, made $3.04/kg and Murray Grey, 565kg, $3.05/kg, though for better yielding types with weight $2.95-$2.98/kg was common. Those more local trade sold on a firm market also at $2.77-$2.86/kg. Friesian heifers were variable depending on whether they had good yield or fell into the boner category, but overall prices were steady for these types.
