NUTRIEN Livestock finished this year's series of successful special store cattle sales at the Muchea Livestock Centre on a high with another extremely strong result last Friday.
The sale was the company's seventh standalone store cattle sale at the venue since June and hosted a yarding of 2024 quality local and pastoral cattle, down about 450 head on the previous sale a fortnight ago.
Local cattle numbers were significantly increased from previous sales with more new season vealer and weaner calves nominated, but pastoral descriptions still made a large percentage of the yarding.
Spirited bidding from local lotfeeders, exporters and graziers provided strong resistance to several Eastern States' orders which were active across all descriptions, resulting in another extremely buoyant market to see values generally firm to stronger across most descriptions.
The sale was interfaced on AuctionsPlus which had 1022 catalogue views and 102 registered bidders logged in from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and WA, yielding 485 online bids across 85 lots resulting in 59 lots purchased online with cattle going to new homes in South Australia, Victoria and locally.
The stronger numbers of local cattle got the sale underway with a single 435 kilogram Red Angus steer offered in the opening pen by Mosterts Dairy Pty Ltd, Keysbrook, purchased by Jamie Davies, Kalgrains, Wannamal, for the $1566 equal top price at 360 cents a kilogram.
Mr Davies continued to operate at the top of the market in sourcing several pens of mediumweight steers with his next highest prices of $1528 at 398c/kg paid for a single 384kg Angus cross steer offered by Renata Paliskis, Mundaring and $1510 at 418c/kg for six Murray Grey steers averaging 361kg from the Gidgegannup paddocks of BH & AJ Whife.
An outstanding draft of 24 Angus steers weighing 351kg offered by GA & SA Gifford, Gingin, was bought by Simon Green, Nutrien Livestock, handling the AuctionsPlus activity, for $1529 at 436c/kg.
Michael Borrello, Borrello Beef, Gingin, secured a few lines of decent numbers of calves for a local butcher order which included an even draft of 13 Limousin steers averaging 354kg at $1522 at 430c/kg, offered by the Linsmau Limousin stud, Bullsbrook.
Caris Park Grazing Company, Pinjarra, paid top liveweight values throughout the local beef section to secure lighter calves of choice, including the sale's 482c/kg top liveweight price for 14 Simmental steers averaging 226kg offered by Petwen Pty Ltd, Geraldton, to cost $1088.
They paid the next highest prices of 470c/kg for 10 Angus steers weighing 264kg from DR & GJ Evans, Gingin, to cost $1241 and 468c/kg for 11 Angus steers averaging 242kg offered by G James, Bakers Hill, to cost $1133.
Other higher liveweight values paid for beef steers included 466c/kg bid by AuctionsPlus for 11 Murray Grey steers averaging 239kg to cost $1115 and Bob Pumphrey, Nutrien Livestock Albany, for 17 Angus steers weighing 257kg from the Walebing paddocks of Cranmore Farming Partnership to cost $1195.
Petwen Pty Ltd's Simmentals featured again in the top heifer prices with a trio averaging 427kg snapped up by LW Bookham & Co for the sale's top price of $1493 at 350c/kg.
The Bookhams sourced a further 20 pens of heavier heifers at the top of the market, paying the next highest prices of $1486 at 386c/kg for four Murray Grey cross heifers averaging 385kg offered by Mostert Grazing, Serpentine and $1447 at 390c/kg for six Speckle Park heifers weighing 371kg trucked in by T & L Murray, Northam.
The Linsmau stud also broke the $1400 mark, with 15 Limousin heifers weighing 345kg, purchased by Leno Vigolo, WA Rural, Nutrien Livestock, for $1413 at 410c/kg.
Mr Pumphrey added several pens of lighter heifers to his southern order, paying the 444c/kg top liveweight heifer price for 18 Simmental cross heifers averaging 215kg, again from the Petwen consignment to cost $956 and 428c/kg for five Murray Grey heifers weighing 220kg, offered by KA Nesci, Lower Chittering, to cost $942.
The next highest price of 432c/kg was paid through AuctionsPlus for 14 Angus heifers averaging 239kg from G James to cost $1031, while Adam Becker Livestock bid 428c/kg for two consecutive pens of heifers consisting of six Angus heifers weighing 242kg offered by the Evans family costing $1034 and four Angus heifers averaging 229kg from AMB Consolidated Pty Ltd to cost $978.
Volume buyer in the local line-up was Graham Brown who was filling a live export order with seven pens of steers and 13 pens of heifers.
The sale swung to a few local bulls and then onto the pastoral section.
Volume vendor Middalya station, Carnarvon, topped the pastoral bull values with Dean Ryan, Central Stockcare, filling a live export order, paying $1438 at 380c/kg for a draft of nine Droughtmaster bulls.
Mr Ryan earlier paid the next highest price of $1335 at 300c/kg for a duo of Angus cross bulls averaging 445kg, offered by Coorong Apiaries Pty Ltd, along with $1217 at 370c/kg for six Droughtmaster cross bulls weighing 329kg from Wooramel Pastoral Company's draft, Carnarvon.
Mr Brown was another dominant buyer of bulls and paid a top price of $1290 at 398c/kg for 15 Droughtmaster cross bulls averaging 324kg offered by Skaton Nominees, Woolibar station, Boulder.
Among Mr Brown's purchases was a couple of pens of Angus bulls offered by GW & FM Edwards, Mundaring, paying $1250 at 394c/kg for five bulls averaging 317kg followed by the section's 410c/kg top liveweight bid for four bulls weighing 229kg to cost $939.
The two other bull sales to reach 400c/kg were a single 194kg Murray Grey bull knocked down to a Nutrien Livestock account for $776 and a draft of 18 Droughtmaster bulls averaging 180kg that were trucked down from Manberry Pastoral Company, Carnarvon, costing AuctionsPlus $718.
Mr Ryan went on to dominate the pastoral steer line-up, collecting 12 pens of steers at the top of the market for his live export order and along the way paid the sale's $1566 equal top price for a single 450kg Santa Gertrudis steer, offered by RJ & HM Hose & Sons, Northampton.
In the same pen was a single 480kg Droughtmaster cross steer from the Middalya station draft also knocked down to Mr Ryan for $1536 at 320c/kg.
Mr Ryan also paid $1435 at 368c/kg for five Droughtmaster cross steers averaging 390kg from Middalya station and $1350 at 376c/kg for 13 Droughtmaster steers weighing 359kg, offered by Henville Holdings, Geraldton.
The Hose family also topped the section's liveweight values with Mr Pumphrey snapping up the seven Santa Gertrudis steers averaging 212kg for 448c/kg to cost his southern order $951.
Mr Vigolo collected two pens of Middalya station steers at higher liveweight values, paying 412c/kg for 11 steers averaging 235kg to cost $966 and 19 steers weighing 267kg for 410c/kg at $1095.
While not as dominant as previous sales, pastoral heifers were still the largest description in the yarding with values reaching $1339 for eight Droughtmaster heifers averaging 446kg offered by GR & GS Hopkinson, Northampton, which were purchased by Skye Ogerley, Avon Valley Beef, for 300c/kg.
Roger Leeds, Nutrien Livestock, paid the next highest price of $1191 at 350c/kg for 16 Santa Gertrudis heifers averaging 340kg from the Hose family's consignment.
Mr Davies returned to buying with a live export order which yielded a few pens of heifers and paid to a top price of $1176 at 352c/kg for five Droughtmaster heifers weighing 334kg, offered by Kimely Pty Ltd.
The Bookhams secured the run's first four drafts totalling 81 Hereford cross heifers, offered by Andrew Glenn Cattle Company, Paraburdoo, paying to a $1136 top price at 370c/kg for 22 heifers averaging 307kg.
Mr Pumphrey secured three consecutive pens of Middalya station's Droughtmaster heifers and paid to $1044 and 380c/kg for 20 heifers averaging 275kg.
The 426c/kg top liveweight heifer price was paid by Mr Vigolo for eight Santa Gertrudis heifers averaging 225kg, offered by Desert Rat Contracting, Jurien Bay, to cost $956.
An online buyer from South Australia purchased a couple of pens earlier in the heifer run, but AuctionsPlus lit up at about the halfway mark to claim a total of 20 pens of lighter pastoral heifers, paying a 408c/kg top liveweight price for 16 Droughtmaster heifers weighing 175kg from the Manberry Pastoral Company.
A run of empty and PTIC pastoral cows ended the sale.
The South Australian buyer on AuctionsPlus was also active throughout this section with eight lines of cows and paid the $1272 top price for six PTIC Brahman cows averaging 464kg at 274c/kg, offered by Gordon Cattle Company Pty Ltd.
A local buyer on AuctionsPlus finished the sale with 10 lines of PTIC cows and paid to a $1204 top price for five PTIC Shorthorn cows averaging 421kg and the 288c/kg top liveweight price for 20 PTIC Brahman cross cows costing $1185, with both lines from Gordon Cattle Co.
