Buoyant market, prices up

NORTH East veteran beef producer David Evans watched rapid bidding in the Wangaratta Livestock Exchange on Friday and said the cattle market had reached a career peak – the strongest in his six decades of farming.

Demand was clearly evident when the district’s associated agents and a relatively small crowd of buyers witnessed prices at the usual store sale reaching an average more than $1000 per head for steers and only a little less for heifers.

Mr Evans, who produces grass-fed beef near Myrrhee, closely followed the sale in which bids for steers were opening more often than not at $1200 and running up at a hammer-fire pace in $10 increments.

The steer line-up of 387 head produced an average of $1016 – a total of $393,080 for the sale – while the offering of 351 heifers averaged $914 and tallied $320,667.

A yarding of 21 cow-and-calf combinations averaged $1969 per unit, yielding gross auction revenue of $41,340.

Mr Evans said the market was now the most buoyant in his lifetime.

… to read the full story, click here to access the digital edition