Market Report 29 May

Cattle-

Yarding– 1314

Numbers reduced by 618 to pen 1,314 mixed cattle. There was only a slight decrease in cow numbers, but young heifers reduced by as much as 60%. Quality for the younger drafts slipped somewhat, however, there were well finished pens of heavy trade steers available and these sold to dearer trends, as did a good selection of well finished, high yielding cows. The usual group of both processor and feeder buyers attended and operated. There was not a big change in values on the younger cattle, with some sales of the better types showing slightly dearer trends of 8c/kg. Similarly, medium weight yearling steers also saw dearer trends of up to 15c/kg to feed on. There were no other changes other than quality and breed variations. Middle weight yearling heifers to feed averaged 228c/kg, while the pens of light, plainer conditioned heifers saw cheaper trends. There was a good selection of heavy steers, these sold to strong trade competition, as did the well finished older heifers. Light one score cows sold to stronger trends of 18c/kg, with good numbers purchased by restockers. Mid-range 2 score cows were also dearer by up to 20c/kg, mostly taken up by the trade. The well-conditioned, high yielding cows were 10c/kg dearer. There were pens of suitable bulls available, however, that market saw cheaper trends on the day.

Sheep-

Yarding– 5900     Sheep– 3400       Lambs– 2500

Inverell penned 1,000 less sheep and lambs to total 2,500 lambs and 3,400 grown sheep. There were several good pens of heavy and supplementary fed lambs, along with some well-presented trade lambs. The larger penning of mutton consisted of heavy pens of Dorper, first cross and Merino ewes carrying big skins, as well as a heavy pen of Merino wethers. There were also lambs suitable for restockers. Several pens of Merino ewes went south to a restocker the regular buyers attended. The limited penning of extra heavy lambs saw cheaper trends of up to $20/head, but numbers were a factor. Similarly, other heavy lambs experienced the same problem. Trade lambs saw falls of $3 to $8head, numbers again a factor. Hoggets improved by $30/head, quality and numbers helping. Light sheep sold to slightly cheaper trends, while medium weights saw dearer trends of $6/head. Crossbred ewes sold to $164, Dorper to $165 and Merinos with a big skin made $110/head. The best Merino wethers sold to $146/head.