IT SEEMS the lift in the cattle market in North East Victoria could have been a one week wonder.

After a strong result at Wangaratta last week where prices lifted up to 20c/kg, rates settled back to where they had been at Wodonga today.

The offering of 2400 cattle, up 400 on the advertised amount and swelled by stock coming from rapidly drying areas, was dominated by steers and unjoined heifers, with only a token number of cows and calves.

The sale's top of $1060, paid by a local buyer, was for seven Angus-cross cows, 2nd and 3rd calvers, with calves to four months, sold by K and D King.

Other cows and calves made from $800-$900 in the limited offering.

There were many laneways of steers on offer, and grown steers topped at $800, paid for the tops of Bonton's Angus steers from Ivanhoe, NSW, which weighed 524kg (153c/kg).

Grown steer prices hovered around the 160c/kg mark, with Duncan Brown buying for Ascot Meats, and Landmark Deniliquin buying on behalf of Andrew Lowe for the feedlot trade.

Another strong buying force for steers was Ben Redfern from Ray White Emms Mooney at Molong, NSW, who bought both steers and heifers from the offering.

He said he was making the most of the dry season down south to stock up on numbers for clients who had received between 25-125mm of rain last month.

Steer weaners sold to $660 for the best Angus (377kg, 175c/kg) but particular lines made more, including a pen of 283kg Hereford steers which made $588 or 208c/kg.

Today's sale was swelled by drafts of cattle which had been agisted near Albury.

They included big numbers from the WPN Partnership at Charleville, Queensland, whose cattle had been on properties near Holbrook.

The heaviest of the steers, nine Charolais-Brahmans, which weighed 411kg, made $480 or just 117c/kg, while three pens of lighter steers, same account, made $345-$370 and all sold to Dom Shanahan, who was bidding on behalf of a Tumut buyer.

The heifer portion made as little as $280, but sold up to $444 for the best pen of 27, which weighed 309kg (144c/kg).

Another feature line was from Rhyola, near Deniliquin, which sold EU eligible ptic Hereford heifers from $570-$690 for 126. The empty heifers out of the same run made $580-$600 or 149-154c/kg.