Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Drought impacts on cattle sales

By Carmen Hall
Bay of Plenty Times·
14 Mar, 2013 05:19 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The three blokes who bought two pens of sheep for their freezer have achieved their task. A flurry of dust and spits of gravel lay in their wake as they exit the Rangiruru sales yard, ewes bundled tightly in the trailer.

Brett Wahapango reckons he got a good deal; five prime Suffolks cost him $85 each and you can almost see him carving them up in his head, arm propped over the pen scrutinising his purchase.

"Meat is expensive. It's hard times with winter coming up ... jeez, one leg would cost $45 in the supermarket. I just want to put kai on the table to feed my family."

The auctioneers have a hard sell squeezing money out of the crowd. Eruptions of laughter cut above bids at suggestions some lambs just need to go once or twice around the paddock and eat some grass. They sold for $37 a head.

"Shocking" was how Ngongotaha farmer Gary Brake describes the current market sheep prices and he believes it will force many out of the industry. He shakes his head at the thought.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I honestly can't see farmers sticking with sheep and lambs. They will get out. It's too up and down. I can't see why they can't follow cattle and dairy and keep the prices ... I blame it on the marketing side of things."

Born and bred Katikati dairy farmer Allan Williams says meat companies are making money off the drought. He casts his eye over the stock and squares his shoulders.

"They know very well the farmers have to get rid of these cattle because they can't feed them, so they have dropped their schedules and are cashing in on the bad luck of dairy and beef farmers."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The 74-year-old had seen only a couple of droughts as bad as this one and counts himself lucky that his herd was getting supplements.

"Farmers that feed, milk and look after their cows well will be rewarded when the rain comes. Their cows will bounce straight back but if they have let them go and put them on once-a-day milking and whatever else, they will be finished."

PGG Wrightson stock rep Simon Rouse is more optimistic. He says 850-odd cattle were offered at the Rangiruru sale this week. It was business as usual, with an average size sale.

Stock has come back 30 to 40 cents a kilo but were in line with the schedules and there was no panic selling at this stage, he says.

"We haven't been too seriously affected in the Bay of Plenty. There are still a few buyers around and we're going all right but if we don't get rain in two weeks, it's certainly going to get a bit more serious."

No light cattle had been presented, so no alarm bells have been ringing as far as stock condition was concerned, he says.

About 150 people attended the sale. The sun shone brightly, the temperature was high and there was not a rain cloud in sight.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

An almost identical case occurred two months after Malachi's death, the doctor said.

16 Jul 05:15 AM
Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

15 Jul 10:57 PM
'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough
Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough

15 Jul 09:44 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP