LANDMARK yarded almost 1400 cattle at its July store sale at Boyanup last week, with the cattle generally presented washed clean after the about 50 millimetres of rain throughout the South West the previous day.
Following the trend of recent sales, values varied depending on the type, weight and quality of the cattle, with some lifting considerably while others softened.
The highlight of the sale were the heavier Friesian steers, with these selling to $1411 and 256c/kg, close to a 20c/kg lift.
It was dairy day with older and well-grown Friesian poddies selling better than for some time, to see a peak of $510, but young rougher types again failed to attract buyer interest.
Liveweight beef cross and beef steers sold to $1379 and $1192 to reach 298 and 320c/kg respectively, to see a sizeable lift.
Unfortunately, beef heifers failed to attract the same support, with these topping at $830 and 250c/kg to be a larger drop than the steer lift.
Appraisal steers, both beef and Friesian, also lowered their colours when selling to $670 and $660.
Bucket reared first-cross heifers saw a peak of $730 for the larger types, but small poddie size were hard to give away, with some pens as low as $150.
Several pens of cows and calves were similar in price to recent sales, but some lines with well-grown older calves at foot made these good buying.
Early in the sale a hail storm blew across the yards, quickly sorting the onlookers from the genuine buyers.
The sale got off to a burster when the first pen of Friesian steers from IA & HE Noakes topped the section at $1411 when Greg Jones bid to 256c/kg for the 551kg steers.
An obvious trend of the sale was buyers chasing cattle with weight, enabling to be finished this season.
A line of 10 weighing 550kg from SH & L Lang made 246c/kg and $1353 when bought by VA & MP Wright.
Other pens of Noakes steers made $1191, $1082 and $1073, all going to the bid of Mr Jones.
Orchard Road Trust sold several pens to this buyer, to a top of $1107.
A good selection of beef cross steers saw a top of $1379, paid for 10 Angus from SH & L Lang bought by DV Brockman, Cowaramup, when the 503kg steers sold at 274c/kg.
Eight Montbeliarde from IA & H Noakes went to Mr Jones at $1377, with another eight bought by VA & MP Wright for $1314.
Elders Capel representative Rob Gibbings was among the multiple pen buyers, starting with 15 weighing 493kg from the Gow Family Trust at $1262.
Landmark Waroona agent Richard Pollock again put a sound base to the sale, paying the top beef steer price of $1192 at 268c/kg for a single steer weighing 445kg, sold account NA Innes.
The top of 320c/kg was paid by Ralph Mosca, Landmark Harvey, for 20 steers weighing 332kg from Norwood Estate.
Beef heifers sold to $830 for four bought by Mr Pollock, while Harris Beef Enterprises paid the top of 250c/kg for 13 from R & K McKay that cost $783.
Appraisal beef steers sold to equal rates when 10 from Riverton Farms sold to MR & JL Piggott for $670.
The next highest return went to five Angus from Mahaffey Family Trust bought by GW Sales at $635.
V & G Ieraci, Harvey, took the top Friesian price of $660 with the eight quality steers going to Mr Gibbings.
Landmark Brunswick agent Errol Gardiner upped the tempo of the sale, accumulating numerous pens for clients, starting with a pen from Tiamo Holdings that cost $640.
Mr Gardiner added two pens of the Mahaffey Family steers, paying $520 and $500, after
V&V Walsh had paid $555 for the first pen of 12 steers.
The older of the bucket-reared heifers from Taylynn Farms went to Landmark Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs, with the 10 heifers costing $730.
This vendor also sold five smaller Hereford cross for $650, bought by Mr Gardiner.
Some of the poddie size of these were a steal, selling as low as $100, but buyers were not prepared for such a long term project.
Several pens of younger cows and calves sold consistently to top at $1580.
The eight Angus cross units from Michela Investments went to Black Diamond Holdings.
Another five sold by Lanark Piggery had half grown calves at foot, appealing to Kevin Armstrong, Willowbank, Benger, who bid to $1460 for the privilege of taking them home.
Landmark Manjimup representative Brett Chatley snapped up two pens of the Michela Investments cows and calves, paying $1450 for both pens of five and six units respectively.
Peppi Cavallo, Donnybrook, paid $1400 for three units sold by SC Holder, having earlier bought several pens of the young Jersey calves without opposition for down to $40.
WHAT THE AGENT SAID
LANDMARK South West livestock manager Matt Watts said in general, the cattle presented for sale were showing the effects of a hard autumn and presented in store to forward store condition.
"Competition came mostly from South West graziers, with lotfeeding and live export programs also very active on suitable drafts," Mr Watts said.
"The feeder Friesian steer market was the highlight of the sale, with added enquiry from grain finishing programs lifting values by 15-30c/kg on Friesian steers more than 400kg, topping at 256c/kg.
"There was a much smaller yarding of beef bred store cattle, with most drafts sub 300kg. The steer yarding received solid enquiry from graziers to see the market remain firm on last sale, selling from 260-320c/kg to average 285c/kg while better-quality cattle received very solid support to sell well over 300c/kg.
"Weaner heifers however were mainly lightweight and of a substandard quality compared to the last sale and these fell in value by 10-15c/kg, selling from 196-250c/kg to average 222c/kg.
"A large line-up of Friesian steers aged six to 12 months met current market trends of supply outweighing demand due to minimal pasture availability in the South West.
"Also with a fluctuation on quality throughout the appraisal sale, results were overall softer than the June store market, with most classes back $30-$40/head.
"Landmark extends its appreciation to vendors, buyers and underbidders associated with this month's store sale."