STORE cattle remain in strong demand following another buoyant market at Nutrien Livestock's monthly store cattle sale at Boyanup last week.
The absence of a couple of WA's lotfeeders from recent sales was countered with additional grazier competition keen to get cattle onto extra feed in paddocks.
This held the market firm for most categories on recent sales at the venue, particularly on feeder and backgrounding descriptions, leaving a lot of buyers empty-handed which hasn't been uncommon at the red-hot sales recently at Boyanup.
The Nutrien Livestock South West team yarded 1705 head of cattle in another improved quality offering, reflecting the turnaround in seasonal conditions in large parts of the South West over the past couple of months.
Older Friesian and first cross steers sold liveweight softened in value slightly and reached values of 300c/kg and $1742 for 581kg steers, while first cross Angus steers topped at $1962 for heavy 633kg steers and 398c/kg for 355kg Euro cross steers.
The beef steer market topped at $1621 for 441kg Angus steers and 462c/kg for 238kg Angus steers, while beef heifers peaked at $1392 for a heavyweight Angus heifer and 386c/kg for well-bred lightweight Angus heifers.
The appraisal market saw first cross Angus steers reach $1090 and Friesian steers $880, a small number of young first cross Angus heifers sold to $760 and a few handy joined cow and calf units topped at $2700.
The sale was again interfaced on AuctionsPlus and while no cattle were sold to the online platform, it provided some competition from the 42 (liveweight) and 17 (appraisal) registered bidders from WA, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland following 642 (liveweight) and 477 (appraisal) sale catalogue views.
The sale kicked off with the run of liveweight Friesian steers and after a hesitant start, buyers kicked into gear with Errol Gardiner, Nutrien Livestock Brunswick, commencing his big day of buying by paying the section's 300c/kg top liveweight price and $1742 top per head price for nine Friesian steers weighing 581kg offered by P & T Curulli & Son.
The scenario was repeated for the next highest price of $1629 at 288c/kg, paid by Mr Gardiner for another 10 of the Curulli family's Friesian steers averaging 566kg.
VA & MP Wright paid $1554 at 276c/kg for eight Friesian steers averaging 563kg trucked in by Mirasole Trust, while Greg Jones was the prominent buyer in this section, filling a couple of orders and paid to $1392 at 268c/kg for 10 Friesian steers weighing 520kg, also offered by the Curulli family.
The next highest liveweight bid of 286c/kg was registered by Nutrien Livestock Margaret River agent Jock Embry for 13 Friesian steers averaging 302kg, offered by KJ & SM Gardiner to cost $864.
Nutrien Livestock Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs paid 278c/kg for nine Friesian steers averaging 356kg from the deep south paddocks of HD & AL & NJ Lindberg to cost $988.
The sale team moved onto a top line-up of first cross steers.
R & C Italiano & Sons offered two pens of heavyweight Angus cross steers which topped the liveweight yarding with Mr Gardiner collecting both, paying $1962 at 310c/kg for 10 steers weighing 633kg and $1909 at 320c/kg for the following pen of 10 steers, averaging 597kg.
The Wright family added four pens of first cross Angus steers to their account, paying to $1748 at 316c/kg for eight steers weighing 553kg from the Mirasole Trust consignment.
The 398c/kg top liveweight price for first cross steers was paid by Kevin Armstrong, Willowbank, for a trio of Simmental cross steers weighing 355kg, offered by GL & VJ Roberts to cost $1413.
A big run of liveweight beef cattle was next to go under the hammer which featured a couple of large drafts of well-bred and drafted steers from individual vendors which made for an impressive sight.
Woolhara Farming Company trucked 110 mainly Angus steers to the sale from the Esperance area.
The draft's first pen of 11 Angus steers weighing 441kg topped the market at $1621, selling to SJ Timpano for 368c/kg.
Alex Roberts, Elders Boyanup, filling a Wheatbelt feeder order, collected the next four consecutive pens of Woolhara's Angus steers, paying to $1582 at 406c/kg for a line of 12 steers averaging 390kg.
Yarloop graziers AD & H Jenkins offered a feature draft of 95 Angus steers weighing from 238kg to 304kg. The entire draft was purchased by Mr Gardiner for two orders who paid to the sale's 462c/kg top liveweight price for the 14 lightest steers and to $1307 at 430c/kg for the 14 heaviest steers.
Tawkin Super Fund also secured four consecutive pens of heavier beef steers at the start of the run, paying to $1594 at 384c/kg for three Murray Grey steers weighing 415kg, offered by DG Stockley.
Rob Gibbings, Elders Capel, paid $1569 at 332c/kg for the first pen of six Angus steers averaging 473kg from the paddocks of JA Cavallo, while Mr Armstrong continued buying with another seven pens of steers, paying to $1489 at 398c/kg for five Chargrey steers weighing 374kg from Browtin Farm.
Other higher liveweight values included 450c/kg paid by AA Simpson & Sons for eight Angus steers weighing 284kg, offered by TW & AL Hoddell & Son to cost $1277 and Harris Beef Enterprises bid to 446c/kg for one of four pens of steers containing 10 Angus steers, weighing 245kg, trucked in by Silverlands Stud Farm to cost $1093.
A single 580kg Angus heifer topped the section with Greg Jones paying $1392 at 240c/kg for a butcher.
Nutrien Livestock agent Richard Pollock snapped up four pens of heifers earlier in the run paying to $1388 for four Angus heifers averaging 401kg offered by P & A MacLeay.
Mr Roberts added a further three pens of Angus heifers to his feeder order paying to $1271 at 358c/kg for eight Angus heifers averaging 355kg, offered by A Fiorenza.
Laurence Grant, Nutrien Livestock Manjimup, bid the 386c/kg top liveweight price for the Jenkins family's only pen of 16 Angus heifers, weighing 248kg to cost $955.
Nutrien Livestock Williams agent Ben Kealy secured a few pens of lighter beef heifers, bidding to 382c/kg for 13 Angus heifers weighing 233kg from Silverlands Stud Farm to cost $890.
Mr Pollock filled a grazier order with five pens of heifers bidding to 364c/kg at $945 for 12 Angus heifers averaging 257kg, also from the Silverlands draft.
The sale swung onto the appraisal line-up of younger dairy cattle with first cross steer values reaching $1090 for the opening pen of 12 Angus cross steers from C & R Cherubino with an indicative weight of 325kg to equate to 335c/kg paid by Mr Pollock for another grazier order.
Mr Gibbings snapped up a couple of first cross steer pens and paid the next highest price of $1020 for seven Hereford cross steers from Riverton Farms, with an indicative weight of 311kg to equal 328c/kg.
Mr Gardiner began filling appraisal cattle orders for grazier clients with eight at $935 Angus cross steers offered by Mahaffey Family Trust with an indicative weight of 293kg to equal 320c/kg.
Mr Pollock secured a further nine pens of first cross steers for two more grazier orders costing to $670 for 15 Angus cross steers offered by Willowbank Agistment, with an indicative weight of 269kg to equal 249c/kg and to a 431c/kg top indicative liveweight price for nine Murray Grey cross steer poddies from Casad Pty Ltd to cost $500.
The section's 538c/kg top indicative price was paid by Mr Gardiner for 14 Angus cross steer poddies, also from the Casad draft to cost $505.
Appraisal Friesian steer prices topped at $880 for 10 steers offered by Bramley Dairy Trust with an indicative weight of 290kg to equal 303c/kg paid by Rodney Galati who collected four pens of steers for a grazier order costing from $810.
Mr Gardiner's eight pens of appraisal Friesian steers cost to $795 for the first pen of 13 steers with an indicative weight of 253kg from BA & JA Armstrong to equal 314c/kg.
The 458c/kg top indicative liveweight price was paid by Ralph Mosca, Nutrien Livestock Harvey, for 20 Freisian steer poddies to cost $510 from the Casad draft.
A handful of pens of well-bred first cross Angus heifers were offered with PJ & J Boley's two pens of eight-month-old heifers, both selling to Mr Pollock for $760 and $710 for pens of 15 each.
A few pens of cows and calves rounded out the sale in fashion with A Fiorenza's two pens of second to fourth calving Angus cows selling to $2700 for 10 PTIC cows with well-grown January to March-drop Angus calves at foot purchased by Mr Embry.
