LOTFEEDERS were buying as if there will be no tomorrow at the Nutrien Livestock Boyanup store sale last week.
A top quality yarding of more than 1800 cattle was presented and it included several large first draft consignments from clients.
Nutrien Livestock South West manager Peter Storch has never felt lighter as he was walking on air after the outstanding result.
Overall, the average value was $1470, lifting $50 on the previous month's sale, which pundits felt was the peak then.
Beef steers got proceedings underway, selling to $1971 for the heavy cattle while the lightweights reached 600c/kg.
Beef heifers lost little ground in comparison, selling to $1926 and 524c/kg.
Lightweight beef cross steers, mostly of poddie size, topped at $1297, selling over the close range of 564-624c/kg.
Some excellent quality Friesian steers attracted keen competition from graziers, selling to $2258 and cracking the 500c/kg barrier when selling to 502c/kg.
Friesian poddies continued their strong results, topping at $1046 and 540c/kg.
An offering of bucket-reared, first-cross heifers, from poddie size to well-grown suitable for mating this season reached $1900.
There were no cows or bulls offered.
The beef steers took until pen seven for the top price of $1971 to be reached when it was paid by Kevin Armstrong, buying for Kalgrains, Wannamal.
Making the top dollar were 440kg Angus steers from KA & DA Reading which sold at 448c/kg.
Mr Armstrong snapped up 10 of the first 11 pens for Kalgrains, including four sold account MG Armstrong, Northcliffe.
The Armstrong Angus steers weighing 460kg were their tops, returning $1961 at 426c/kg.
Other pens sold for $1899, $1865, $1854, while Nutrien Livestock, Boyup Brook agent Jamie Abbs, paid $1782 at 468c/kg for a line of 12.
Other higher priced steers heading to Wannamal were 12 Charolais from KA Reading, weighing 415kg which cost $1867 at 450c/kg.
Peter John Farming, Busselton, saw his 10 Simmental steers weighing 432kg also go on the truck, returning $1946 when selling at 450c/kg.
A pen of 17 Murray Grey steers from Yoralyn, Capel, weighed 424kg and returned $1935 at 456c/kg to be among the better results.
Murray Grey cross steers sold by MF & MA Hutton, Capel, went to Kalgrains when the 414kg cattle sold at 448c/kg to cost $1857.
Ten steers from Illginup Farm, Busselton, went to Mr Abbs with a final bid of 488c/kg to return $1883 with a second pen costing Mr Abbs, $1807 and 528c/kg.
One of the feature lines were the Angus pens offered by PMV & GV Butler, Waterloo, with lotfeeder orders taking most of them.
Welldon Beef, Williams, proved astute by snapping up the first pen weighing 362kg for $1740 at 480c/kg and it was the only pen to sell at less than 500c/kg.
Welldon Beef added another 14 steers weighing 318kg for $1750, this time bidding to 550c/kg to secure them.
John Gallop took three lines for O'Meehan & Co, paying $1753, $1741 and $1705 between 530 and 540c/kg.
Later in the beef steers 15 steers averaging 300kg from Giant Valley Beef cost 546c/kg and $1639, while two grey steers sold by MJ & JA Fisher made $1668 at 534c/kg.
Rodney Galati paid $1574 at 550c/kg for four Limousin steers sold account Jay C Higgins before adding cattle from T & FM Logrande Trust at $1382 and $1568.
Another draft with numbers was the annual run of lightweight South Devon steers offered by DW & MJ Rees, Collie.
Nutrien Livestock, Waroona agent Richard Pollock secured the first pen of 14 weighing 274kg for $1547, bidding to 564c/kg.
Mr Pollock was the dominant bidder on a lot of cattle, taking the volume buyer title once again.
Nutrien Livestock, Manjimup representative Laurence Grant took two pens, paying $1504 and $1421 at 586 and 594c/kg respectively.
Other buyers of the Rees cattle included Nutrien Livestock, Albany representative Michael Lynch and LA & EM Mullins who bid to the top of 600c/kg.
Beef heifers got off at a cracking pace when Mr Pollock took the first pen of seven from Margaret River Rural at $1880, paying 386c/kg for the 474kg heifers.
A line of 10 grey heifers weighing 435kg from GJ & D Battle were bought for Kalgrains at 412c/kg to return
$1792.
The top price went to a pen of 10 Angus from Peter Varischetti when Brett Chatley, Nutrien Livestock Manjimup, outlaid $1926 at 380c/kg for the 507kg future breeders.
Mr Pollock took the second pen of Varischetti females, paying $1812 and 412c/kg for the eight 440kg breeders.
Shannakill Holdings sold Angus heifers for $1758 and 396c/kg while WJ & SJ Layng, Busselton, received $1711 and 398c/kg for their single Hereford heifer weighing 430kg bought for Kalgrains.
Mr Pollock secured the two pens of Angus heifers from PMV & GV Butler, paying $1548 and $1420 to a top of 482c/kg.
Nutrien Livestock Bridgetown agent Ben Cooper upped the pace as weights decreased, buying heifers from Sandlewood Farms for his Eastern Wheatbelt lotfeeder client, including 10 weighing 333kg for $1578 at 474c/kg.
Mr Grant paid the top of 524c/kg for a line of 11 Angus from PMV & GV Butler with the 229kg heifers returning $1202.
Also selling at more than 500c/kg were two pens offered by Black Market Angus, both lines going to Mr Pollock at 506 and 510c/kg with the heaviest pen weighing 276kg.
A small run of beef cross steers resulted in a top of $2093, paid by Kookabrook Livestock for 11 weighing 550kg from CV & SJ Webb, Donnybrook.
Farris Family Trust, Busselton, bid the top of 552c/kg for a line of seven Angus weighing 247kg that cost $1368 from AC & CA Jenkins, Denmark.
Sent to the sale from Busselton, seven Friesian steers sold by PD Milner saw the 664kg steers in the first pen take the top Friesian steer price when Kookabrook Livestock paid $2258 at 340c/kg.
Ten from KA & DA Reading in the next pen joined those at $1920 when the 527kg steers made 364c/kg.
In the lighter dairy steers, FJ & M Foster & Sons, Cowaramup, outbid the competition to take three of the four pens from VR & EJ Pitter, Waroona, paying $1383, $1361 and $1356 mainly at 444c/kg.
Lighter weight steers, that in previous years were sold appraisal, sold strongly again.
Nutrien Livestock Busselton and Margaret River agent Jock Embry snapped up five pens from AC & DA Jenkins, paying from $1076 up to $1259 and from 470c/kg to 494c/kg for the lightest pen, buying these for client Molita Grove Grazing.
Mahaffey Family Trust, Benger, always attracts keen interest in its quality steers with a line of 14 weighing 289kg bought by Rob Gibbings, Elders Capel, for $1238 and 428c/kg.
DM Lofthouse took the second pen for $1225 at 472c/kg with these weighing 260kg.
Gundagai Dairy, Boyanup, had some excellent light cattle, with its first line of 13 Friesian steers weighing 261kg making $1243 at 476c/kg when bought by Elders Boyanup.
Peter Lofthouse, Wokalup, bid to 484c/kg and $1174 for 13 weighing 242kg before Farris Family Trust took 12 at 482c/kg to spend $1136.
Gundagai Dairy took top price honours in the dairy poddie market also, when Dean Taaffe, Nutrien Donnybrook, bid 484c/kg for the 216kg calves to spend $1046.
Range Lee Grazing then bid to 502c/kg for 13 weighing 193kg that cost $971.
Nutrien Livestock Brunswick and Harvey agent Errol Gardiner was unbeatable on the 16 youngsters from JS Crimp & Co, paying the top of 540c/kg for the 142kg calves returning $769.
John Fry, Brunswick, was in his element competing for a single steer from Kimlie Pty Ltd, buying this to add to an earlier purchase for the Anglican Church, Brunswick, paying $980 at 400c/kg.
The last few pens were bucket-reared, first-cross heifers that sold appraisal, topping at $1900 for two from A Fiorenza and bought by Mr Pollock.
Eight Angus cross from MJ & LV Bell, Capel, were next best when JD & IL Wilmot outlaid $1780 for the future breeders.
Another eight Murray Grey cross sold by BA & JA Armstrong were heading to Williams when also bought for $1780 by the local Nutrien Livestock agent.
Other better returns were for seven from MJ & LV Bell, going to Kookabrook Livestock at $1760, while regular buyer, KL & AJ Jilley, Boyanup, paid $1740 for the 10 heifers from H & JB Blackburn, Cookernup.
Another buyer on the lookout for first-cross heifers to grow out was BW & RB Ridley who secured the eight heifers from G, G, D & M Tartaglia for $1400.
Mr Armstrong had earlier picked up six of the Tartaglia family heifers for $1480.
The last pen sold had 12 grey heifers that were snapped up by Garry Craigie who said they would be cheap compared with the steer price when he paid $860.