Stortford Lodge Stock Sales

Sheep prices grabbed the limelight at this week's Stortford Lodge stock sales.
Ewe prices continued their relentless rise at the prime sale on Monday and at yesterday's store sale it was the turn of lamb prices. Top price was $110.50 for a pen of 22 killable, woolly, blackface, mixed-sex lambs. Two pens of good lambs both made $110 and a pen of 18 woolly cryptorchid lambs made $106.50.
Iain MacEwan of Elders Livestock said yesterday's sheep sale was strong, "especially for quality male stock. However, even plainer sorts sold exceptionally well."
The yarding of 2887 sheep was made up mostly of lambs with a handful of ewes. Buyers were mostly local farmers.
The steep prices for ewes, stock that once went mostly for pet food, prompted one agent to mutter that the meat companies "must have found a market for mutton on Mars."
At Monday's sale the quality was good for the yarding of 1547 ewes and 114 lambs which sold to buyers from Wairoa, Wairarapa, Waikato and Hawke's Bay.
Top price was $125 for a pen of 20 heavy slipe ewes. Other good ewes, some of them with good mouths, were $117 for 35 heavy shorn ewes and $114 for 22 heavy wiltshire ewes.
In the lamb pens top price was $135 for four, woolly, mixed-sex lambs. A pen of 51 very good shorn lambs made $117.
The cattle sale was also strong with brisk bidding for the 186 animals on offer. Agent Laurence Redshaw said prices were up 10c/kg on last week. "It was a strong sale."
The offering was made up of 50 cows, mostly dairy culls, 83 heifers, 12 bulls and 10 oxen.
Prices
Heifers:
Four angus, av weight, 548kg, 227.5c/kg, $1249/head; three charolais, av weight 510kg, 227c/k, $1159/head; four, crossbred, av weight 543kg, 224c/kg, $1221/head; 13 angus, av weight 478kg, $1069/head; five charolais, av weight, 524kg, 222c/kg $1163/head; eight angus-cross, av weight 463kg, 221c/kg, $1025/head; three crossbred, av weight 440kg, 219.5c/kg, $966/head; two crossbred, av weight 450kg, 218c/kg, $981/ head, two the same, av weight, 470kg, 210c/kg, $987/head; six here/friesian, av weight 440kg, 440kg, 217.5c/kg, $959/head; two angus, av weight 472kg, 217c/kg, $1025/head; three friesian, av weight 406kg, 171c/kg, $695/head.
Ox:
Four angus, av weight, 607kg, 236c/kg, $1434/head; six hereford, av weight, 789kg, 234c/kg, $1847/head.
Cows:
One crossbred, weight 705kg, 167c/kg, $1177/head; 16 friesian, av weight 543kg, 152c/kg, $826/head; 16 the same, av weight, 460kg, 145.5c/kg, $670; three Angus, av weight 603kg, 171.5c/kg, $1035/head; one crossbred, weight 665kg, 171c/kg, $1137/head; six crossbred, av weight 543kg, 168c/kg $913/head; four friesian, av weight 480, 143.5c/kg, $689/head; three dairy breed, av weight 398kg, 119.5c/kg, $476/head.
Bulls:
Four whiteface, av weight 583kg, 229c/kg, $1334/head; two friesian, av weight 525kg, 219c/kg, $1150/head; two jersey, av weight 522kg, 212c/kg, $1108/head; three the same, av weight 540kg, 218c/kg, $1108/head; one 18-month, weight 465kg, 200c/kg, $930/head.
Sheep:
Ewes:
73 shorn, $112; 106 heavy slipe, $109.50; 159 good slipe, $108.50; 106 good slipe, $109.50; 49 heavy shorn, $108; 49 the same, $106.50; 83 slipe, $105.50; 98 good shorn, $104.50; 19 heavy, $103.50; 77 shorn, $101; 85 slipe, $100; 78 lighter, $94.50; 35 good, $91.
Lambs:
Five woolly, $105; 17 good shorn, $100.50; nine good shorn, $89; 10 woolly, $85; four small shorn, $80; three smaller shorn, $66.
Yesterday's store cattle sale was described as robust with good bidding for a small yarding of 79 animals of average quality. Farmers appear to be retaining stock to eat the grass growth after last month's heavy rain.
Wednesday's prices:-
Sheep
Ewes: all shorn.
Rawhiti Farm, Raupunga, 117 five-year ewes, 106; 56 the same, $82; Unknown vendor, 36 heavy ewes, $91.50.
Lambs:
I M and P Ruebe, Te Awa Rd, Waipukurau, 50 cryptorchid shorn, $97; 85 woolly cryptorchid romney, $96; Paranui p/ship, Otamauri, 60 shorn mixed-sex blackface , $96; 75 shorn ram, $95.50, subject; Chris Ward, Otamauri, 48 shorn m/s blackface, $99.50; 204 the same, $90.20; 108 the same, $88; 139 the same, $80; A W Smith, Farm Rd, Waipukurau, 49 shorn m/s blackface, $90.50; 50 shorn cryptorchid romney, $90.50; Clovelly Farm, Hatuma, 204 shorn m/s blackface, $90.20; 185 shorn ewe, $81; shorn, 83 shorn ewe, $73; Williams Hill Farm, Puketitiri, 183 woolly ram, $93; 116 woolly, blackface ram, $89; 110 blackface ewe, $87; Kailoa, Tamumu, 148 blackface ewe, $89.70; Rawhiti Farm, Raupunga, 157 shorn cryptorchid, $87.50; 200 the same, $85; 50 the same, $72; Whakamarumaru, 72 m/s, $74.20.
Cattle:
Prices:
E Chisholm, Chatham Islands, 15 18-month steers, av weight, 363kg, 218.c/kg, $792/head; J Foster, Waipawa, five 18-month angus steers, 221.1c/kg, $765/head; three 15-month angus-cross heifers, av weight 225kg, 177.8c/kg, $400/ head; McCharty, Te Awanga, nine 18-month whiteface heifers, 229.6c/kg, $615/head; seven crossbred heifers, av weight 288kg, 227.5c/kg, $655/head; five heifers, av weight 261kg, 220.3c/kg, $575/head; W Kittow, Waipawa, five autumn-born whiteface bulls, av weight, 267kg, 220.2c/kg, $588/head; Zanzibar Farm, six two-year heifers, av weight 418kg, 197.2c/kg, $825/head; J Tuanui, Chatham Islands, one two-year whiteface steer, 315kg, 196.8c/kg, $620/head.