Buyers throughout the lower North Island converged on Masterton saleyards for a two-day drought sale that brought some relief to desperate farmers.
Williams and Kettle stock agent Peter Dick said the steer sale on Tuesday fetched a top price of $708 for Masterton farmer John McFadzean, of Glenbrae.
About 300, mostly out-of-town
buyers, filled the saleyard on Tuesday with a bulk of the cattle going to Hawke's Bay, he said.
"Te Kuiti, Wanganui and Feilding also took a good proportion of the cattle and the thing we noticed lacking was the few local buyers that usually come through.
"The steer sales fully lived up to people's expectations and I think most farmers would have been pretty satisfied with the results."
Mr Dick said the two-day sale is indicative of the drought and farmers' inability to feed stock because of shortages in the region.
"We always have a sale around this time of year but we're probably a week earlier than usual and it is a two-day sale because of the amount of stock being sold."
Elders stock agent Dick Chamberlain said the sale drew 3000 cattle and yesterday had 1500 heifers and 300 bulls in the yard.
"There were a few Hawke's Bay buyers but they do tend to come down to our sales and their conditions aren't as bad as Wairarapa at the moment.
"Masterton's prices yesterday were about $70 behind the Hawke's Bay sale price," he said. "There just isn't any choice for Wairarapa farmers, it's a case of selling stock for whatever they can get.
The rain has done very little to help growth and the winds have just sucked up everything we have had."
Blairlogie farmer Bill Morrison had 120 steers and 63 heifers at yesterday's sale and considering the drought "the cattle are looking pretty good", he said. "There's no way anyone can afford to take their stock back home but even so the prices have been pretty good and most people are fairly satisfied given the prices are pretty similar to last year."
Yesterday's heifer and bull sale brought 60 registered buyers to town and Glenbrae again topped the sales price, fetching $475 and $425 for his heifers.
Mr Dick said the bulk of the heifers were charolais and simmental-cross and the best of the bulls from the morning sale reached $520.
