SOAKING rain has flooded the cattle industry with enthusiasm, boosting prices at the last of southern Australia's calf sales by up to $100 a head and pushing bidding at stud sales to a top of $20,000.
Vendors were on a high at last week's mountain calf sales at Benambra, Omeo, Ensay and Hinnomunjie. The numbers were down but the grass was greener and the prices the highest of this year's weaner sales.
Elders and staff were pleased with the results and so too were the vendors with most averages $50-$100 up on last year.
Twelve-month-old Hereford-Shorthorn cross weaner steers sold to $820 and breeders scrambled for replacement heifers, paying up to $795.
The lightest of the steers and heifers sold upwards of $460.
Northern NSW restockers bought 30 per cent of the total yardings of 8650 head.
The reduced yardings, which were down 2800 head on last year, were blamed on the successively tough winters, which had affected calvings.
The plentiful supply of green grass has encouraged some breeders to hold back some of their calves for grass finishing.
The Hereford and roan cattle, with their heavier weights, topped the sales in dollars per head, but with the continuing support for Angus steers it was the blacks that consistently sold for more than 200c/kg.
David Hill, of Elders at Omeo, was confident the better prices and the abundance of feed would be the right incentives to return yardings to more than 10,000 head during the next few years.
Meanwhile, Tasmania's weaner selling season kicked off, with weaner steers selling to a top of $745 and averaging $532 for 1700 head at Powranna in the north of the island.
And thanks to a more stable market, stud sales around Victoria mostly reported averages close to last year with most bulls sold at auction.
For the second time this year, bidding reached $20,000 for a stud bull, this time at Ardrossan Angus, near Holbrook NSW, where 62 bulls averaged $5153 on Monday.
