Feilding stock sale

Sheep entries were up in recent sales.

For a number of quite likely reasons, sheep entries lifted again for this sale.

Recent sale prices must look very attractive to those hill country blocks still holding lambs, the recent weather has made sheep work a little easier and some end of year book squaring is probably occurring. For whatever reason, sheep entries lifted but the market did not falter.

More scanning is underway and scanned in lamb ewes came forward in twice the numbers. They still look cheap to this observer with today's top price being $158 for younger scanned in lamb ewes from Crossland, Conoor.

As can so often happen, the first pen of lambs appeared the cheapest. The top male lambs remained merely firm on today's market with two pens; 181 blackface cryptorchids from GF McNie, Raetihi and 241 cryptorchids from M & J Tapp, Taihape, both selling for $130.

Once the sale moved into the second cuts of males, however, the action heated up and medium males, all the ewe lambs and the lighter, longer term lambs all lifted to new seasonal highs.

The top pen of ewe lambs, 263 Romney ewe lambs from Dunbar Ltd, Hunterville, sold for $125.50. Hawkes Bay buyers, from Central right up to Wairoa, were to the fore again. Lamb sale prices for those medium and lighter lambs lifted another $5-$6/head this week but quite frankly this lifting trend does not look like changing anytime soon.

Many lambs are unshorn, such is the state of the wool market, but all would benefit with shearing. Ewe lambs maintained their parity with the males again. Hardly a pen of lambs sold for less than $100/head all day.

The cattle sale was a smaller affair with numbers hovering around winter levels. The steers were a little better this week and the steer section lifted overall. 18 heavy Hereford/Friesian rising three year steers from AM & PA Shand, Marton, sold for $1775 ($2.93) and 5 Angus/Hereford cross rising two yearv steers from LG Currie, Bunnythorpe, sold for $1660 ($3.09). Even the weaners were firmer, selling up to $1080 ($4.03) for Angus.

The bulls met a mixed response this week with older bulls lifting but the weaners, on the back of a couple of larger lines, easing back. Bull numbers doubled last week's but the buyers may not have been in. Regular Friesian bull vendors, Parkes Farming, Ohingaiti, sold 16 rising two year Friesians for $1500 ($3.11) and in the weaner Friesians; MG Rivers, Woodville, sold 12 for $940 ($3.53) and Karaka Court Trust, Cheltenham, sold 20 also for $940 ($3.60).

The heifer section was also more of a mixed bag today as a small yarding of older heifers eased a little yet the weaner heifers, without any standout lines, firmed. There were some more prime heifers offered. Woodlands Partnership, Feilding, sold 6 good Angus heifers for $1420 ($2.85) but many of the heifers were dairy cross and did not spark the market. The better weaner heifers were also beef cattle.

Sheep (15,570): ewes (1,861); SIL (1,525), $112-$158; lambs (13,697); 40-44kg, $119-$130, $2.90-$3.03, firm; 36-40kg, $104-$130, $2.85-$3.37, lift; 31-35kg, $105-$121.50, $3.21-$3.82, lift; 27-30kg, $97-$104, $3.22-$3.86.
Cattle (790): steers; R3 (107), 518-604kg, $1460-$1775, $2.64-$3.13, lift; R2 (135), 307-536kg, $890-$1660, $2.87-$3.48, lift; R1 (95), 125-268kg, $475-$1080, $3.18-$4.06; bulls; R2 (57), 321-500kg, $800-$1500, $2.49-$3.11, lift; R1 (193), 187-266kg, $640-$940, $3.10-$4.27, ease; heifers; R2 (89), 300-497kg, $865-$1420, $2.54-$3.14, ease; R1 (70), 96-257kg, $545-$930, $3.40-$5.67; cows VIC (44), 477-529kg, $1160-$1290, $2.33-$2.51.