IT was another successful day for the Primaries Livestock team at the Muchea Livestock Centre last Friday when it hosted its third special monthly store cattle sale for the year.
In the sale the Primaries team yarded 1425 head and overall it received solid support throughout.
Pastoral cattle dominated the descriptions and the well-drafted and presented fixture attracted good buying support from restockers and backgrounders as well as lotfeeders, processors and live export buyers.
The small offering of local beef cattle saw values reach 324 cents a kilogram and $1145 for steers while beef heifers in the local run sold to 270c/kg and $840.
Pastoral steers topped at 286c/kg for steers with a strong Charolais content weighing about 280 kilograms, while a heavy pen of Shorthorns weighing about 400kg made the $982 top.
Lighter pastoral steers about 200-250kg sold to 230c/kg.
A small run of young pastoral bulls weighing about 190-280kg sold to 268c/kg.
The large offering of pastoral heifers were offered as either pregnancy tested empty (PTE), pregnancy tested in calf (PTIC) or not pregnancy tested.
The PTE run of heifers topped at $708 and 236c/kg, the PTIC made up to $627 and 186c/kg while the lines not pregnancy tested, which were mostly less than 200kg, topped at $669 and 234c/kg.
The local lines of cattle kicked the sale off and it was the first pen offered which topped the day’s prices at $1145.
Taking the top price honours was a pen of three Limousin steers weighing 424kg from Tunbridge Investments, Gingin, when it was knocked down to Kevin Armstrong, who was buying for Harmony Operations, at 270c/kg.
The Gingin operation also sold a pen of 13 Limousin steers weighing 270kg for the top liveweight price of 324c/kg to HS & JM Bagshaw, Boyup Brook.
The local heifer offering saw a top price of $840 which was also achieved by the Gingin operation, when it sold a pen of 16 Limousin heifers averaging 311kg at 270c/kg to Willowbank, Benger.
Willowbank also secured two further pens of Limousin heifers at 270c/kg from Tunbridge Investments.
It paid $760 for nine weighing 281kg and $701 for five averaging 260kg.
Thompson & Redwood Pty Ltd also offered cattle in the local section and its best price was 276c/kg and $912 for a pen of four Charolais cross steers weighing 330kg which were purchased by HS & JM Bagshaw.
After the small run of local cattle buyers attention quickly turned to the the large offering of pastoral types.
The pastoral steers were first to go under the hammer and these ranged in weight from about 220-410kg.
The top price in the run was $981 for a pen five Shorthorn cross steers weighing 409kg from RF & C Edmunds, Gingin, when it was knocked down at 240c/kg to Ned Borrello.
The same buyer also paid $839 and 220c/kg for five Shorthorn cross steers averaging 381kg, as well as $832 and 220c/kg for seven Santa Gertrudis cross steers averaging 378kg which were all from AR Day, Rawlinna.
Trandos Beef paid 262c/kg and $840 for a pen of 14 Santa Gertrudis cross steers weighing 321kg along with 250c/kg and $678 for a line of 10 Santa Gertrudis cross steers averaging 271kg, from AR Day.
The top liveweight price of 286c/kg in the run was achieved by Mount Florance station, Wittenoom, when it sold a draft of 18 Charbray steers weighing 282kg to HS & JM Bagshaw for $805.
The Bagshaws also secured a pen of 13 Charbray steers averaging 297kg from Mount Florance at 278c/kg and $825.
In the bull run price topped at $590 for a pen of 12 Shorthorn cross bulls averaging 225kg from MV & KE Seivwright, Glen station, Cue.
The pens was purchased by Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) at 262c/kg.
LSS also paid the top liveweight price of 268c/kg for a pen of 20 Shorthorn cross bulls weighing 205kg to return $549 to CB & DM Day, Gunnadorah station, Rawlinna.
LW Bookham & Co picked up two pens of bulls from Gunnadorah station offering.
It purchased 12 Shorthorn cross (214kg) at 250c/kg and $535 and 12 Brahman cross (226kg) at 200c/kg and $452.
Mount Florance station contributed a large number of heifers to the sale and it topped the offering of PTE heifers with its first pen offered which sold at $708.
A pen of seven Charbray heifers averaging 331kg were purchased by Dean Ryan, Central Stockcare, Bullsbrook, at 214c/kg.
Mr Ryan picked up a further five pens (54 head) of Mount Florance PTE Charbray heifers which weighed 265-278kg for 216-220c/kg ($588-$601).
Primaries Northampton agent Chad Smith buying for WA Minn Resources, Erudu, picked up four pens of Mount Florance Charbray heifers and bid to a top of 224c/kg for a pen of 12 weighing 214kg.
Mount Florance also achieved the top cents per kilogram price of 236c/kg when it sold a pen of Charbray heifers weighing 216kg to KA & GS Grime for $509.
Piesse & Maguire, Newman, also offered a good run of PTE heifers in the sale which topped at 224c/kg for a pen of 10 Droughtmasters weighing 291kg purchased by Central Stockcare at $652.
A pen of 22 Droughtmaster heifers, averaging 220kg from Piesse & Maguire, made 216c/kg and $476 when purchased by Primaries Geraldton representative Craig Walker, for Howatharra Grazing Company, Geraldton.
The Geraldton operation also purchased a line of 20 Droughtmaster heifers weighing 216kg for 210c/kg ($454) from Killara Station Co, Meekatharra.
The best price in the Brahman PTE heifers was 200c/kg for a line of seven averaging 373kg from Mount Florance station when it was knocked down to V&V Walsh to cost $745.
LSS purchased four pens of Brahman PTE heifers from Killara Station Co paying from 160-180c/kg.
It paid 180c/kg for a pen of 13 weighing 217kg and the same value for a line of four averaging 202kg.
LSS also picked up two pens of Shorthorn hefiers from Killara paying 182c/kg ($467) for six weighing 257kg and 180c/kg ($393) for 15 averaging 218kg.
The top for the heifers which were not pregnancy tested, was $669 and 234c/kg for a pen of five Droughtmaster cross weighing 286kg from Woodlands Agriculture Pty Ltd, New Norcia, which were purchased by Central Stockcare.
Howatharra Grazing Co purchased 17 non-pregnancy tested Droughtmaster heifers weighing 183kg from Piesse and Maguire at 192c/kg and $351 and 30 of the same description averaging 177kg from Killara Pastoral Co at 192c/kg and $340.
Mukinbudin operation AL & ME Shadbolt bid to 148c/kg ($349) for 13 Brahman non-pregnancy tested heifers averaging 236kg from C Harvey & Co, Cervantes and 142c/kg ($312) for 14 Shorthorn heifers (not pregnancy tested) weighing 220kg from MV & KE Seivweight.
Lang Coppin, buying for Epmin Ex Trust, picked up numerous pens of the non-pregnancy tested heifers including three pens of Shorthorns (114 head) which weighed from 144-177kg at 140 to 208c/kg ($202-$366) from Piesse & Maguire.
He also purchased two pens of Hereford cross heifers (43 head) of the same description from Piesse & Maguire which weighed 169 and 127kg for 140c/kg.
The run of PTIC heifers closed out the sale.
V&V Walsh paid the top price $627 at 175c/kg for five Charbray heifers averaging 358kg from Mount Florance.
V&V Walsh also paid 175c/kg and $599 for nine Mount Florance Charbray heifers weighiing 342kg.
Six Droughtmasters weighing 295kg from Piesse & Maguire were also knocked down to the V&V Walsh account at 172c/kg ($507).
Mount Florance also sold the top pen in cents per kilo terms when another pen of eight of its Charbray heifers weighing 282kg sold at 186c/kg to cost Oakstar Asset Pty Ltd $524.
Oakstar also picked up two pens of Brahman cross PTIC heifers from Killara Station Co at 150c/kg.
The pens both contained six head and weighed 277kg and 284kg.