Beef heifers make 338c/kg at Boyanup

The Nutrien Livestock South West team presented a full yarding of just shy of 1400 head of beef and dairy origin store cattle in the company's monthly store fixture and also featured the annual offering of commercial yearling Angus bulls from Hydillowah Angus, Hyden.

Stronger feeder and grazier enquiry saw buyers raise their sights on suited cattle and strengthen the market across most indicators, some by significant levels, particularly beef heifers and light dairy steers.

While there was a mixed element to the yarding common with winter store fixtures, buyers honed in on quality bred and presented lines across beef and dairy descriptions.

Beef steers sold in a more consistent market across all weights with heavier 350kg plus yearlings selling to 330c/kg, feeder weight yearlings and weaners to 332c/kg and lighter steers to 324c/kg.

The large yarding of beef heifers out-priced steers for top price honours with some outstanding drafts of yearling heifers with breeding potential selling to 338c/kg for mediumweights and 330c/kg at the heavier end, while lighter backgrounding weights sold to 252c/kg.

Heavy first cross steers 450kg plus sold to 280c/kg, lightweights 150-250kg topped at 310c/kg and poddies 308c/kg.

Friesian steers were in strong numbers and steers 550kg plus sold to 228c/kg, mediumweights topped at 212c/kg, lightweights to 240c/kg and poddies to 212c/kg.

The line-up of 20 commercial yearling Angus bulls offered by the Mouritz family's Hydillowah Angus, finished the strong sale in suitable fashion.

The total clearance of the sale team sold to $10,500 and an overall average of $5850, which followed the trend of most bull sales this sale season, back by $1423 on last year's average where all 22 bulls sold for an average of $7273.

Proceedings kicked off with a good run of feeder weight beef steers with Rob Bell, M & AJ Bell Farm Pty Ltd, Boyanup, making his presence felt from the outset when he paid the $1227 equal top beef steer price at 326c/kg for the opening line of 10 Angus steers weighing 377kg, offered by Tonebridge Grazing, Tonebridge.

Mr Bell collected a further four pens of steers at the top-end of the market including the equal top price of $1227 at 330c/kg for eight Angus cross steers averaging 372kg from the paddocks of JS Stowe, Burekup and the 332c/kg equal top liveweight price for 10 Angus steers weighing 351kg from KA & DA Reading, Brunswick, to cost $1165.

The Readings also sold the next highest price pen of steers with Rodney Galati, Galati Family Trust, Brunswick, outlaying $1217 at 324c/kg for 10 Charolais steers averaging 376kg.

Mr Galati also bid the 332c/kg equal top liveweight price for five Angus steers weighing 355kg, trucked in by Sheron Farm, Benger, to cost $1179.

B & M Waddell, Springfield Farm, Newdegate, sourced seven beef steer pens and bid to 330c/kg and $1175 for 10 Charolais cross steers averaging 356kg, offered by BT Venn, Pinjarra.

Nutrien Livestock, Waroona agent Richard Pollock was a prominent buyer of backgrounding weight beef steers (200-260kg) and finished with 15 pens as he went about filling two significant grazier client orders.

Mr Pollock bid to 318c/kg liveweight for 13 Angus steers averaging 245kg from Cosy Creek Farms, Manjimup, to cost $779.

Lightweight steer values topped at 324c/kg for 15 Hereford steers weighing 199kg offered by Kelliher Bros, Wandering, which were knocked down to Jamie Abbs, Nutrien Livestock, Boyup Brook, on behalf of a Dardanup grazier.

The selling team went to work on the large numbers of beef heifers which proved the headline act when the heifers eclipsed steer top prices for both price categories.

PS & LM Torrisi, Boyanup, topped the overall beef section with a draft of 10 Angus yearling heifers weighing 430kg selling for $1374 at 320c/kg with Mr Bell back in the thick of the action on quality lines.

An outstanding draft of 30 Angus yearling heifers weighing 344-373kg offered in three lines of 10 from Sheron Farm proved popular with buyers and Mr Bell secured the first two drafts with 332c/kg bids for both equalling $1238 and $1172, while Wyloo Pastoral Company, Boyup Brook, paid the sale's 338c/kg overall top liveweight value for the third pen of Sheron Farm heifers weighing 344kg to cost $1163.

BT Venn presented a quality draft of 51 Angus cross yearling heifers weighing from 322-378kg with Mr Bell collecting four of the five pens, paying 302c/kg and $1142 top price for the heaviest line of 11.

Mr Bell also collected the Reading's 11 Charolais cross heifers weighing 373kg.

The Stowe's Angus cross heifers also featured among the top prices with Mr Bell paying $1158 at 320c/kg for the draft of 10 weighing 362kg.

Devlins Run, Brunswick, sold two lines of Angus heifers weighing from 356-370kg totalling 21 head to Wyloo Pastoral Company, costing from 310-312c/kg and $1103-$1154.

Ben Cooper, Nutrien Livestock, Bridgetown, sourced several pens of beef steers and heifers for a Wheatbelt feeder order with their heifer purchases topping at 290c/kg and $1034 for nine Angus heifers averaging 357kg from the paddocks of DM & CM Omodei, Pemberton.

Roelands graziers Colac Cable Harvesting Pty Ltd were the volume buyers of lightweight beef heifers and finished the sale with nine pens weighing from 150-280kg, clerked to their account costing to 234c/kg.

A short but sweet run of first cross steers, pound for pound, took it up to their straight beef bred counterparts.

SR & TL Green, Waterloo, topped the section with a split pen of six Angus-Friesian steers weighing 473-485kg knocked down to Westside Cattle Company, Boyup Brook, for $1323 and $1319 at 272c/kg and 280c/kg.

Jacques Martinson, Elders Margaret River/Busselton, snapped up the first three pens of Angus-Friesian steers which included two offered by F & J Logrande, Harvey, with six weighing 485kg and eight at 467kg knocked down for 268c/kg, $1300 and $1251 respectively.

The sale's volume vendor the Scott family, Gundagai Dairy, Elgin, offered a large draft of dairy bred steers including 57 Angus-Friesian steers in four pens weighing from 202-254kg with Errol Gardiner, Nutrien Livestock, Brunswick/Harvey, sourcing two pens for a Brunswick client bidding to 310c/kg for 14 steers averaging 227kg to cost $704.

It was then onto the strong numbers of Friesian steers with a draft of 28 grown steers weighing 531-603kg from

F Slee & Son, Busselton, starting the section in style with VA & MP Wright, Dunsborough, collecting two pens and paying the top price of $1375 at 228c/kg for seven averaging 603kg and $1294 at 224c/kg for seven weighing 578kg.

A processor operating on AuctionsPlus secured the other two pens of Slee steers paying to 206c/kg and $1096 for the 14 steers weighing 531-559kg.

This same buyer added the next three pens of Friesian steers to their account including two offered by GP & EL Papalia, Brunswick, paying to 196c/kg and $963 for seven steers averaging 491kg.

Gundagai Dairy's draft of 225 Friesian steers aged from five to nine months and weighing from 140-270kg, was offered in 15 lines with Jock Embry, Nutrien Livestock, Margaret River/Busselton, securing three pens of older steers containing 15 head in each for a Rosa Glen grazier order, paying from 222c/kg to the section's 240c/kg top liveweight value.

Gundagai Dairy also topped the poddie section with 15 steers averaging 211kg selling for 212c/kg and $447 which were one of several pens of young dairy steers Mr Gardiner purchased for a Yarloop grazier client.

Included in Mr Gardiner's purchases for client orders were two pens of Friesian poddies weighing from 190-201kg offered by G,G,D & M Tartaglia, Brunswick, which he bid to 190c/kg on behalf of a Millbridge order.

A single pen of nine young Angus-Friesian heifer poddies weighing 156kg offered by A & M Anfuso, Oldbury, sold appraisal for $325 to Mr Pollock for a Waroona client.

Rounding out the store sale proceedings was a selection of cows and calves.

Tiamo Holdings Pty Ltd, Brunswick, offered three pens of mature cows and calves with values topping at $2000 for four heavy Murray Grey cows not rejoined with Gelbvieh sired calves at foot which were snapped up by Mr Abbs for a local Boyanup order.

Return and new buying support on the thick, well-bred and grown young bulls from Hydillowah Angus resulted in a total clearance with values ranging from $4000 to $10,500

Hydillowah's representative agent Richard Pollock said it was a pleasing result to record a complete clearance in the current market climate.

"The objective was to present a number of bulls of suitable quality to achieve a 100pc clearance," Mr Pollock said.

"With the help of previous and new buyers we were able to do this.

"Claire Green needs to be commended for the presentation and handling of the quiet bulls; they are a very even team which showed in the consistent pricing.

"The style, thickness and temperament improves every year and Hydillowah is already committed to the 2025 bull sale."

The Reilly family, Westside Cattle Company, Boyup Brook, are return strong supporters of the Hydillowah brand and finished the sale with three bulls at a healthy average of $8333.

Their team included the sale's $10,500 top-priced bull, a 684kg son of Mordallup Stunner R12 measuring 44cm scrotal (SC) and the sale's $8500 second top price for a 656kg bull by Mordallup Ammaroo S136.

Armed with several client orders, Mr Pollock was the dominant buyer and finished with 11 bulls for mainly return buyers.

The haul included four bulls for Maroondah Farms, Yealering, costing to a $6500 top price for a 632kg bull by a Hydillowah bred son of SAV Harvester 128, three bulls for Woodlands EGT, Hyden, costing to $7000 for one of two sons of Mordallup Renown N111 and three bulls for Bancell Falls, Waroona, costing to $5500, also for one of two bulls by Renown N111.

Brendan Millar, Elders, Margaret River, was the other volume buyer and collected three bulls for the Brennen family, Witchcliffe.

What the agent said:

Nutrien Livestock auctioneer and Manjimup representative Austin Gerhardy said it was a full yarding with dominant numbers of beef heifers and Friesian steers.

"Quality of the offering was mixed in parts and greater buyer enquiry was experienced throughout the entirety of the yarding with recent rains throughout the district," Mr Gerhardy said.

"Beef steers increased by 10-15c/kg across all weight classes, selling to 332c/kg.

"Beef heifers more than 300kg were stronger, gaining 60-80c/kg with far greater enquiry from lotfeeders.

"Lightweight heifers less than 300kg remained equal.

"Heavy first cross steers improved 10-20c/kg and steers less than 300kg sold to a dearer trend realising 310c/kg.

"A larger and improved quality offering of Friesian steers resulted in a stronger market of all classes, highlighted by the improvement of steers less than 300kg, gaining 140c/kg as a result of the break of the season."

Sales summary

(Liveweight)

Beef steers: $609-$1227

Beef heifers: $340-$1374

First cross steers: $463-$1323

Friesian steers: $196-$1375

First cross heifers (appraisal)

Cows & Calves (appraisal)

Hydillowah Angus yearling bulls: