LANDMARK presented another outstanding yarding of beef cattle when it offered nearly 700 weaned weaners of excellent weights and quality in a weaned weaner sale at Boyanup last week.
Strong competition from lotfeeders saw pre-Christmas rates maintained and even slightly bettered, with agents and graziers mopping up the balance.
Steer calves sold to $1474 for heavyweights while lighter weights reached 404 cents per kilogram.
This compares with the last sale of 2016 where steers topped $1363 and went to 404c/kg.
This sale did have a slight weight advantage of about 15kg a head average over both sexes.
Heifers gave a similar comparison when selling to $1418 and 362c/kg. The last sale topped at $1310 and 354c/kg.
The comparable overall average for the sale was $1223 compared to $1195 at the last sale last year, giving confidence to cattlemen of continuing profitability.
Several larger breeder drafts were penned, starting with four pens of steers from the Muir family, GD Muir & Co, Mordallup Angus stud, Manjimup, with the first nine calves weighing 441kg selling to Harvey Beef Farms (HBF) for $1403 at 318c/kg.
Landmark Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs took the next three pens with nine calves in each for $1371, $1342 and $1334 respectively, at 320 and 324c/kg for the 411 to 428kg steers.
Mr Abbs then bid to 324c/kg and $1389 for 11 Angus steers weighing 428kg from E & C Russell.
Larry Miaolo, Donnybrook, bought the top-priced pen of the day when paying $1474 for eight Angus sold by W & LM Holland with the 460kg calves selling at 320c/kg.
Welldon Beef, Williams, paid $1336 for eight weighing 419kg while Jock Embry, Landmark Margaret River, was busy all sale, taking a pen weighing 382kg for $1290 and 338c/kg.
Four pens sold by AR & GR Fawcett, Boddington, all went to feedlots with Welldon Beef paying $1249 for 10 at 348c/kg and $1199 foranother 10.
Mr Embry secured the others for his client from $1217 to $1219 at 344c/kg.
A line of 10 weighing 427kg from R & L Fraser, Boyup Brook, sold for $1359, going to GJ Watt, Cowaramup, while Welldon Beef snapped up the next pen of Fraser calves for $1268.
Elders Boyanup agent Mal Barrett purchased the first two pens sold by R & A Wheatley, Bridgetown, paying $1230 at 346c/kg for 11 and $1211 and 350c/kg for another 11.
Mr Barrett also bought two pens from TC Cooper & Son, paying $1267 and $1252.
Kevin Armstrong secured pens of calves, first for RA Rogers, paying $1259 at 322c/kg for 10 steers weighing 391kg from the TC Cooper draft.
A second run of the Muir family's calves sold to $1277, to RA Rogers, while several lines of Fawcett weaners reached $1216.
Vendors with smaller numbers included R & M DellaSale, Mullalyup, with seven Charolais cross making $1449 when bought by GJ Watt and another seven going to Mr Embry at $1227.
Lanark Piggery sold six Angus weighing 421kg for $1305 to HBF early in the sale, then later sold a single Murray Grey for $1245.
A pen of 11 Red Angus from RM & M Italiano, Harvey, made $1366 when the 415kg steers made 326c/kg.
A heavy calf weighing 485kg from RP Gartrell sold at 300c/kg to return $1455 when bought for HBF.
Another quality line was, eight calves averaging 384kg from P& ST Ford which sold to Mr Embry for $1328 and 346c/kg.
The higher prices paid for lighter calves were 400c/kg for 12 weighing 284kg in the Fawcett offering bought by Mr Abbs, and the top of 404c/kg was achieved by two Red Angus averaging 257c/kg from R & N Parker that were purchased by Errol Gardiner, Landmark Brunswick.
Lesser numbers of heifers were penned and it was a line of 10 Angus heifers weighing 396kg from W & LM Holland, which topped at $1418 when Mr Armstrong bid to 358c/kg.
The next 10 of the Holland heifers weighed 347kg and were bought by Mr Gardiner for the top of 362c/kg, costing a Roelands clients, $1257.
The best of the Charolais cross heifers from R & M Dellasale went to RA Rogers for $1240.
Mr Embry secured nine Red Angus weighing 348kg at 338c/kg, returning $1175 to vendors, R & M Italiano.
Landmark Bridgetown agent Ben Cooper was active again on the lightweight heifers for clients, paying up to $1140 for South Devon heifers offered by Creek Farms weighing 337kg.
Welldon Beef continued bidding to the end of the sale, securing heifers weighing 352kg from Dr J Rosenthal for $1175 and 334c/kg, as well as the second last animal sold for $1109, a 330kg heifer from RP Gartrell at 336c/kg.