Market Report 7 August

Cattle-

Yarding– 896

A penning of mostly young cattle and a large supply of plainer conditioned cows made up the bulk of a yarding, though numbers were reduced by half from last week's offering. Only slight rain has fallen over the past 24 hours. Restockers were active with numbers of weaner and yearling cattle going north over the border. Processors operated, but trends for cows were again cheaper. Weaner steers and heifers saw dearer trends of 5c to 9c going to restocker competition and a lift in quality saw light vealers sell 11c/kg better. Medium weight trade yearlings also saw rises of 5c/kg. Quality variation saw steers to feed decrease 20c/kg. The opposite occurred for light weight feeder heifers, seeing prices improve by 22c/kg, due to restocker interest. Heavy heifers to the trade sold 12c/kg dearer. Cows saw decreases through all their categories, with quality and condition playing a major factor .One score trade cows saw decreases of 20c, with light 2 score cows decreasing 5c/kg. There were limited numbers of finished cows and these saw slightly cheaper trends of 2c/kg. There too few bulls for a reliable quote, but these also saw cheaper sales.

Sheep-

Yarding–5044               Lambs– 2217              Sheep–2827

Numbers doubled from the sale two weeks ago. There was a limited selection of extra heavy lambs, but good trade lambs came forward, many having had access to grain. There was a general cheaper trend throughout, however demand was still solid. The few sheep carrying good wool growth made their way back to restockers. All the regular buyers attended. Light lambs to the trade saw cheaper trends of $4, with restocker interest also showing cheaper trends of $8/head. Trade lambs took the brunt of the correction, seeing cheaper trends of up to $20/head. Heavy trade saw changes of $15 and extra heavy lambs also seeing cheaper trends of $20/head. These changes, however, came mainly from the lack of weight in the lambs experienced a fortnight ago. Light ewes saw cheaper trends of $8 to $10/head, with medium weight ewes only marginally cheaper. The market for heavy ewes was cheaper, but again the lack of weight contributed to the variation. Heavy crossbred ewes sold to $140/head, as did a pen of Merinos. The best of the crossbred wethers sold to $150 and Dorpers made to $145/head.