The first half of the weaned calf sale last Thursday featured 2800 mainly Friesian bulls, with beef-Friesian sold last Friday.
Very limited processor space meant prime markets were a hard ask, and lambs eased to $100-$148.50, with a small top end achieving $150-$163.
Prime ewe numbers pushed to new heights while prices lost more ground. Heavy ewes made $100-$149, medium, $70-$99, and light, $40-$69.
Store lamb prices fell below last year’s level as local demand was very limited. Medium to good lines came back to $50-$86, though values were very similar for the lighter end.
A consignment of medium Romney mixed age ewes traded at $121-$133, and Corriedale, $110-$114.
High cattle throughput continued to put pressure on the market, which is declining as a result. All sections had significant tallies with steer’s rivaling the cows, and heifers not far behind. Jersey bulls also came forward in decent volume.
Good Angus steers, 484-506kg, made a premium at $2.95/kg, while the Hereford-Friesian dominant section mainly traded at $2.70-$2.80/kg for the better types, with one line of seven, 694kg, making $2.90/kg. Second cuts earned $2.60-$2.65/kg.
Heifers took a significant dive across the board, with Hereford-Friesian losing 20-25c/kg as 478-573kg mostly traded at $2.55-$2.66/kg.
The bull market lost the least amount of ground, with Friesian, 547-565kg, easing 5c/kg to $2.57-$2.61/kg, and Jersey, 455-511kg, $2.48-$2.57/kg. Hereford-Friesian cows sold on a reasonably solid market as 540-635kg returned $1.95-$2.02/kg.
Heavy boner Friesian cows came back 8-12c/kg to trade at $1.80-$1.88/kg, but the medium types managed to hold at similar levels. As the weight dropped further the market continued its downward trend down to $1.60-$1.74/kg. The news was no better for Friesian heifer’s, with 10-15c/kg taken off all weight ranges.
The hard task of finding homes for over 2800 calves was put before auctioneers last Thursday, but by sale end most had been sold as vendors met the market.
Buyers came mainly from South Otago through to Mid and South Canterbury, though North Island also had a strong influence, taking around 450 medium weight bulls across the strait.
Of the 1820 Friesian bulls offered, 70% sold at $400-$460 for a wide weight range of 95-140kg, and those prices were spread right through the weights, with lighter lines of quality calves selling to $460, and vice versa.
Heavy calves suffered the biggest easing as buyers worked to tight per head budgets, with prices $40-$50 cheaper for lines 130-132kg. However as the weight dropped and those per head budgets held the easing was not as pronounced, and 105-110kg calves reduced by just $10-$20 to $440-$460. The margin was even tighter for 90-100kg, with these relatively steady to slightly softer at $380-$430.
Crossbred calves proved to be hard to sell, with very few buyers on the bench interested in the mainly Friesian-Jersey bulls. Despite weights up to 160-170kg, $440 was the highest price achieved, and that was for a line of 125kg calves. Most lines traded at $200-$350, with a few lines above and even below that level.
