Livestock market report – April 12, 2018

DUST is something that all farmers have in common throughout our region at the moment as the long dry autumn continues to draw out, topped off by unseasonal warm weather.

Not willing to wait for moisture to hit the ground, cropping preparations are well underway with the tell tail dust trails leaving a plume of smoke like dust behind every tractor as many sow dry.

The only upside of this dry patch is that hay is now on the move with rolls that have been sitting in the paddock for one or two seasons, now marching out the door.

With many of the cows in the region now dropping calves, along with sheep lambing making a start, with hardly a skerrick of grass in the paddock of any value, supplementary feeding is now the almost daily routine of most farmers.

Tuesday’s Ballarat sheep and lamb market saw 23,000 lambs and 9,000 sheep yarded in an easier market.

Market Highlights Ballarat Sheep:
Heavy export lambs to $193
Heavy trade lamb to $150
Store lambs to $128
Light processor lambs to $110
Heavy mutton to $140
Light mutton to $90

Mortlake Cattle:
A total yarding 890 head of cattle were presented by agents this week at Mortlake following a missed market due to the Easter break.

Quality was from poor to good overall with cows and young cattle very mixed in condition while grown steers were mostly from plain to good.

The current following of buyers attended and operated steadily with prices for grown steers on average 15 cents higher and manufacturing D2 and D3 grades were 5 to 10 cents per kilogram dearer.

The vealers sold 15 to 20 cents better while yearlings were 5 to 15 cents higher and restockers paid up to 10 cents per kilogram more for their steers but their heifers made similar money to the last sale.

Cows were mainly unchanged in prices with just a few sales of beef cows slightly higher.

The C2 and C3 vealers sold between 275 and 326 cents and included the odd B muscled grades while restockers paid 261cto 301 cents per kilogram.

The yearling steers made from 265 to 285 cents with restockers paying 255 to 278 cents with yearling heifers sold from 248 to 268 cents and restockers paid 262 and 263 cents per kilogram.

Market Highlights Mortlake:
Light steers to $958.58
Light heifers to $984.20
Trade steers to $1,349.12
Trade heifers to $1,279.20
Export steers to $1,810.12
Export heifers to $1,558.37
Heavy cows to $2,354.80
Bullocks to $1,890.64