Peter Rollason, AuctionsPlus southern manager, presents the sash for the champion pen to vendors Denise and Bert Ah Sam, with Herefords Australia general manager Andrew Donoghue.
Buyers were met with some of the best line-ups of Hereford weaner calves in the nation for the 79th annual Omeo Weaner Calf Sale on, with steers hitting $1180 and heifers $1090.
Selling agents Elders yarded 1800 Hereford and Shorthorn-Hereford cross yearling and mixed sex weaners for the sale.
The fixture on March 12 finalised two days of selling where 6400 cattle were offered at Benambra, Ensay and Omeo.
The sale opened strongly with a pen of March-April drop Mawarra, Newcomen, Bowmont and Hyland blood steers offered by Peter Faithfull, Omeo, and ringing the bell for the top price of $1180.
They were snapped up by David Hill, David Hill Livestock, Albury.
Although much of the yarding carried European Union accreditation, few buyers elected to retain the cattle in the system.
A large crowd of backgroundsers, steer finishers, lot feeders and restockers attended from Albury-Wodonga, Wagga, Myrtleford, Tumut, Gundagai, Euroa, Oxley, Colac, Bairnsdale and Tasmania.
Hereford steers sold for $355-$1180 – a fall of $40 on the Ensay sale held earlier in the day.
In the European Union pens, prices settled at $395-$1180 while Shorthorn-Hereford steers finished at $485-$1000.
Heifers were the big movers with prices up $20 on Ensay for purebred females to go back to the paddock for joining, as well as to fill two international live export orders to Russia and Kazakhstan.
They finished at $350-$1090 for the purebreds (EU pens $450-$1080) and the roans $550-$870.
Simon and Sonya Lawlor, Omeo, with Deanne and Peter Sykes, Mawarra, Longford, at the Omeo weaner sale. The Lawlors topped the heifer market on $1090.
Elders Omeo branch manager David Hill quoted the heavier end of the steers at 285-290c/kg and middle run at 270-285c/kg.
Mr Hill said the well-bred cattle had shone during a tough season, with vendors rewarded for their efforts.
“We’ve had an extraordinary result on Hereford heifers over the last 48 hours – they had been quite a concern leading up to these sales on primary producer demand and outlets for restocking of females,’’ he said.
“We had a lot of pressure on us with our heifers and were fortunate enough to have two volume orders to achieve a satisfactory result.
“There were restockers who couldn’t buy, which is concerning going forward into the 2020 sales, the question is around what livestock will be available if a normal season is to appear.
“It’s been bloody tough around here for the last 12 to 18 months, and for those cattle to come up the way they have has been extraordinary.
“And, it is rewarding too as there is a lot of per unit costs on fodder.’’
Mr Hill said cattle were purchased out of Omeo by Greenhams destined for backgrounding in Tasmania.
He said few lotfeeders had operated in the market.
Peter Rollason, AuctionsPlus southern manager, Pakenham, selected a pen of European Union accredited autumn drop calves from Bert and Denise Ah Sam, Omeo, as the winner of the Herefords Australia best presented pen.
The 20 steers were Karoonda, Nunniong, Mawarra and Valley Vista blood, and made the second top price of $1170.
“They were well grown, quiet, even, EU accredited, weaned properly, had the health treatments and were well prepared for the buyer,’’ Mr Rollason said.
Mr Ah Sam said the April-May drop calves had been weaned for six weeks with average weights down on last year due to the dry season.
He offered 127 steers and 111 heifers, with the steer price of $1170 exceeding his expectations of $1050, and just $20 behind last year’s top.
The Ah Sams received $750 and $740 for their second and third pens respectively, while South Gippsland steer finisher Graham Osborne paid $780 for their top pen of Shorthorn-Hereford steers.
“Last year we topped at $890 for our April-May drop heifers and this year they made $960 when I was expecting around $960,’’ Mr Ah Sam said.
Vendor PJ McCoy is another Omeo producer trying to tough out the drought and was on hand to see his Mawarra and Newcomen blood steers sell.
The McCoy Farms top pen of April-May drop steers made $1130 and the seconds $850 to Alastair Nelson, Colac, while the heifers topped at $900.
PJ offered 83 steers and 76 heifers, and retained 25 heifers at home. The cattle had been weaned for six weeks but PJ estimated weights were back 40-50kg on last year.
In the female pens, two live export orders saw commission buyers jockeying at the rail with restockers for future breeders, leaving lot feeders to pick up the tail.
This pushed along prices on the purebred Hereford calves to a top of $1090 for Mawarra and Newcomen blood heifers, EU accredited, from vendors Simon and Sonya Lawlor, Omeo.
Backgrounder and lotfeeder Alastair Nelson, Colac, operated strongly on the heavier steers for YC Feeding Company.
The cattle will be backgrounded for six to eight weeks on silage and hay at Birregurra, followed by 70-100 days grain feeding at Jalna Feedlot, Anakie.
Mr Nelson picked up 605 steers and 89 heifers, saying Omeo offered the best line-up of Herefords he had seen in his buying lifetime.
He appreciated the majority of the yarding had been early weaned.
“That was the most Herefords I’ve ever bought up here as it has never had the strength of cattle in the past,’’ he said.
“They were the best run of Herefords at Omeo from a pure genetics point of view …it was a great result for all the people here.
“Last year I bought 32 Charolais cross cattle at Benambra and Herefords at Omeo, and 42 at Ensay.
“This year I got 102 out of Benambra, 124 out of Ensay and 130 out of Omeo, all Herefords over 300kg.’’
Mr Nelson expects to land the Hereford calves for under 280c/kg.
“The quality of the cattle is more important than the breed – normally you can’t come to these mountain sales and buy those quality bred cattle on our budget,’’ he said.
“I would’ve only bought 300 steers had it not been for the distinct price differentiation this year.
“I had two clients I bought lighter cattle for and both will background for six months for my program.’’
-Kim Woods
Top Quotes
Steers
P & C Faithfull: 15, Herefords, EU, $1180
A & B Ah Sam: 20, Valley Vista, Karoonda, Nunniong and Mawarra blood, EU, $1170
S & S Lawlor: 20, Herefords, EU, Mawarra and Newcomen blood, $1110
R & C Foster: 11, Herefords, EU, $1130
McCoy Farms: 20, Herefords, Mawarra and Newcomen blood, $1130
S & L Anderson: 14, Herefords, $875
B & B Flannagan: 15, Herefords, EU, $850
M Batty & M Valentin: 14, Herefords, EU, $850
CW Scott & Co: 14, Herefords, $770
Heifers
S & S Lawlor: 22, Herefords, Mawarra and Newcomen blood, EU, $1090
P & C Faithfull: 14, Herefords, EU, $1080
A & B Ah Sam: 16, Herefords, $960
R & C Foster: 12, Herefords, EU, $910
McKoy Farms: 18, Herefords, Mawarra and Newcomen blood, $900
M Batty & M Valentin: 13, Shorthorn-Herefords, EU, $740
A & N Smith: 8, Shorthorn-Herefords, EU, $630
B & F Pastoral: 13, Herefords, $610