Quality run of spring drops delivers $10m turnover at annual weaner sale

Off the back of a favourable winter, North East farmers have cashed in, presenting an exceptional run of cattle for the annual Gordon Sinclair Memorial Weaner Sale which saw a $10.1 million turnover. The yarding of 5443 head on Thursday was one of the biggest the Wangaratta Livestock Exchange has ever hosted, coming in good time as the market took a turn for the better following a downward spiral from July’s lofty peak. Elders cattle agent Oliver Mason said the sale was a quality representation of spring drop cattle from across the North East. “It was an absolute credit to the vendors because it was an excellent run of cattle," he said. "The winter has been very gentle on the cattle, and we've seen performance, that certainly was reflected in the weight of the cattle in the yarding. “There's certainly a lot of optimism in the beef job locally, we're staring down the barrel of what's going to be a very good spring." Light steers between 200-330kg saw plenty of value averaging out around the $6.10/kg mark with the dearest pen going for $7.41/kg. Heavy steers more than 330kg collected more than $2000/head on average with 400-500kg steers maxing out at $2790/head. Light heifers brought in about $5.15/kg to $5.40/kg on average while heifers more than 330kg averaged about $5/kg. Rowdy Purcell had some 140 head of Millah Murrah Angus steers and heifers from his Mansfield property at the sale Thursday. He took home the best-presented pen of heifers for the feature sale and said he was extremely pleased with his spring drop, presenting about 20 to 30kg heavier than this time last year. “We're very lucky, when it was dry in the autumn, we were still getting a little bit of rain and then it’s been such a mild winter,” he said. “You could count the frosts on your hands and when there's no snow on Mount Buller, we're doing all right. “We had a heavy rain that filled up the dams, which were empty last year." Mr Purcell went down to the sale with his farmhand Grace and family including granddaughter Mila, who took the week off school to help grandpa on the farm. Prior to the sale he said he was optimistic about his returns. “If you had to ask me that before I knew what they weighed, I would have said I would have got $1700 or $1800 and I would have been happy but we might make a bit more than that now," he said. One of Mr Purcell’s top pens of 31 heifers would sell for 1900/head or nearly $5.30/kg. Mr Mason said the massive yarding at the sale and consistent popularity of the Wangaratta store sale over the past 12 months has come down to the quality reputation the saleyard has established in recent years. “Our weaners are becoming one of the key features on the store selling calendar, we're drawing ever-increasing numbers both from a buyer and a vendor perspective," he said. “We continue to present quality cattle, our fees are very reasonable and the facility itself is proving to be an excellent place to sell store cattle."