Barely any two-year steers or heifers were sold. Only a line of 530kg Charolais steers at $1710, $3.23/kg and 425 Angus-Hereford heifers at $1265, $2.98/kg were worth mentioning. A smaller numbers of ex-service bulls came in too. The Friesians, 425-680kg, were a little softer through the lighter-end at $2.92-$2.99/kg, but one 575kg line did better at $3.08/kg.
One-year steers were much shorter in quality beef-bred numbers. Some 380-405kg Angus were $1285-$1335, $3.30-$3.39/kg, roughly matching a week ago. Well-presented Hereford-Friesian steers met good interest, lifting to $3.35-$3.39/kg for 340-375kg. Once the heifers rolled around there weren’t too many bidders left, which was reflected in the $2.76-$2.87/kg paid for beef-Friesian lines in the 240-475kg range.
Yearling Friesian bulls sold in two cuts but lifted as a whole. The 420-510kg lines were $2.84-$2.93/kg, and 350-390kg made $3.03-$3.05/kg. Jersey bulls, 320-370kg, were $2.25-$2.45/kg.
A quite large crowd of local and Hawke’s Bay buyers lined the sheep pens, intent on taking advantage of the feed that consistent rains have provided. There were few lines that stood out in terms of quality, leaving the dollar on the day at $115, leaving bidder to battle for mainly medium-type lambs.
Breed and sex had little impact on the market for the good size lines, which firmed just a little to $108.50-$115. The winners of the day were the medium and medium-good male whiteface lambs. The medium-good lines climbed to $95.50-$113.50, with the cut below $86-$98. Similar weighted lines of blackface mixed sex lambs were tougher shifting by comparison, usually $80-$91.50.
Ewe lambs were still in short supply. These were mainly medium-light cuts, selling at $70-$81.50. Medium whiteface mixed sex lambs also found resistance at $73.50-$83.50.
No ewes of note were put forward.
