GENTLE rain kept the bids flowing at Colac today where sappy spring weaner steers made to 223c/kg.

Agents yarded 1500 head including several hundred cows with calves and joined females despite very good rains of up to 60 millimetres between Colac and the coast in the past week.

Weaner steers weighing 200-250kg made from 200 to 220c/kg consistently while those 300kg and heavier settled from 180 to 200c/kg.

Their heifer sisters, 200-250kg, made from 160 to 180c/kg.

Heavy steers topped at $725 (184c/kg) for a pen of six Charolais cross steers, 395kg, of Mount William blood from the Melville family.

A run of 71 steers from Cokaroo made to $720 per head for 16 black baldies, 16 months old, 400kg and Yeowarra bred. The Cokaroo run settled from 180c to 186c/kg.

Younger steers made to $595 (223c/kg) for a pen of 18 Angus, 10 to 12 months old, 267kg, Murdeduke and Dean Park blood, from Burongbete South offered in a run of 50.

Charles Stewart agent, Jamie McConachy said more rain in the past week and high quality lines had assisted a solid sale.

"This sale has become more than a bi-monthly store sale, it's now almost a feature sale for spring calves. Our southern producers are almost exclusively spring calving and they use this sale to market their weaner lines."

Cows and calves topped at $1010 for pen of nine offered in the Fisher family's herd dispersal. These were Hereford-Friesian second calvers rejoined to a Limousin bull.

Mr McConachy said cows and calves and joined females were "tough enough" to sell.

"People are gun-shy of carrying the cost of feeding cows and calves over winter which is the reason why the cow and calf market isn't as buoyant as the rest today. Many people have been caught out paying $60 to $100 a roll of hay to get them through the past few winters," he said.

Buyer Charles McLennan of Glenfyre was able to capitalise in the offering of joined females. He bought 11 Stonewall Angus females due to calve from August 1 in two lots for $740 and $770.

"It's a lot cheaper than I expected to pay for the quality and they will calve down with the rest of our herd, which is ideal," Mr McLennan said.

Max and Heather Smith sold 21 Hereford and black baldy cows with calves at foot to $850 following their decision to lease out 90 per cent of their Deans Marsh property.

"I think we do just as well leasing out the land, but we couldn't do without at least some cattle," Mr Smith said.