Stock Report: June 9

By Stuart Sheldrake

THERE were only 220 cattle penned in the yard today.

The long weekend meant numbers were detracted, following a good couple of markets last week.

Not many cows to quote but firm, slightly easier than last week.

The odd bull was firm and the remainder of the market was overall slightly stronger than last weeks.

A few splitter calves went from $5 to $6 a kilo due to strong competition online.

Most of the kill cattle were vealers, as we had a handful of good trade vealers and not many grain feds. 

The vealers were up 10-12 cents on last week’s market and the reason for that, being there were fewer numbers of them so obviously they were fighting to get this week’s supply.

The remainder of the yarding was just yearlings and weaners and all of that was a little bit stronger than last week’s market as well.

First Store Sale in Scone

Last week we had our first store sale in scone in two years coming out of the drought and we yarded almost 1,000 cattle last week 

There was some great competition around, from not only local, which is great to see as some people haven’t even thought about purchasing stock in the last couple of years; but were able to be able to attend and have a crack due to new season conditions.

There were also a lot of agents who attended and represented a lot of areas in the northwest, the west, Gloucester and down the valley.

A good roll-up, however, obviously restrictions were still in place so we were only allowed to have 100 or less in the ring.

We held a pre-registration for that, but I think everybody who wanted to purchase cattle was there and the market was very strong for all categories.

Top Markets

• Penner cows and calves: 3,100
• Pre-test cows: 2,800
• Venison deers: 1,260
• Penner heifers: 1,190

COVID-19 Changes

We’ve been very fortunate that as far as trade and market goes, COVID-19 hasn’t affected us at all.

The online has taken over when restrictions were put in place and we were limited regarding the number of people involved in the sale.

At one point we only had professional buyers and agents present during the sales.

Because we’re seen as an essential service, we were still able to operate as per normal, but we were strict on the public turning up to sales.

People made ways for others to purchase their stock if they were unable to do it themselves, either through local agents and professional buyers or they were also able to do it online.

That’s where the new online tool worked well for us and that was great timing as it filled a few holes.