Demand for Angus cross beef calves

Sold: New Zealand Farmers Livestock auctioneer Cameron Smith, left, with stockman Bill Rendle, sell a pen of five, top quality Angus cross heifer calves for $195 a head at the feeder calf sale.

It was mainly locals buying at the second New Zealand Farmers Livestock feeder calf sale in Dannevirke on Monday.

With 30 entries, up from 18 on day one last Thursday, the best prices were paid for pens of angus-cross heifer calves and auctioneer Cameron Smith told the Dannevirke News this was the way of the future.

Top price of $195 a head for a pen of five angus-cross heifers and $190 for a second pen of the same breed set the benchmark for the sale.

New homes: Some of the feeder bull calves sold at the second sale of the season at the New Zealand Farmers Livestock auction at the Dannevirke A&P Showgrounds on Monday.

"Buyers from Hawke's Bay will turn up when more calves come up for sale and they will push up the prices," Mr Smith said.

One local buyer said he was "just looking".

"I usually buy white-faced calves, but there are none here, so I'll have to go to Rongotea."

Mr Smith said the angus-cross heifers were good looking and "nice and chunky".

"There's going to be a big demand for beef calves this year and the top white-faced calves at Rongotea were going for $300, with $280 for top friesian bull calves. You can get good money for beef cattle and so I think there is going to be a big demand for beef cross calves this season."

Mr Smith said he thought the prices paid at the Dannevirke sale were good.

"Prices will lift when he have bigger pens and I expect to have 50 calves in Thursday's sale."

A pen of well-grown friesian four-day bull calves went to $115, a single friesian bull calf went for $185, another two for $145 each, while two crossbred, big, strong, healthy calves made just $80 a head.