Selling agents Nutrien Livestock and Elders yarded 664 head in the fixture which was interfaced with AuctionsPlus.
In the sale break down, weaned heifers averaged $1679 and topped at $1910, PTIC autumn calving heifers averaged $3053 and topped at $3300, cows and calves averaged $3447 and topped at $3600, PTIC heifers and calves averaged $3948 and topped at $4800, and PTIC spring calving heifers averaged $2623 and topped at $3600.
The entire yarding averaged $2715 and grossed $1.8 million.
Buyers jockeyed to bid on the “front paddock cattle”, with females going into new herds at Tumut, Gundagai, Goulburn, Jingellic, Tarcutta, Cooma, Crookwell and Cootamundra.
The red-hot restocker competition pushed prices skywards to achieve a new Australian record of $4800 for commercial Angus heifers and calves for the Reiland stud.
The stud’s offering of a pen of 10 heifers, 505 kg and PTIC for a spring joining, with spring drop calves averaging 215 kg, caught the attention of top price buyers Peter and Narelle Clout, Coolac.
Mr and Mrs Clout have run Angus cattle for about 20 years but reduced numbers during the drought and are now restocking.
“We paid $3200 at Yass in August but these heifers are much younger and I know the Lucas family,” Mr Clout said.
He had expected the price ceiling to be around $3800.
“Those calves are worth $1500-$1600 and the heifers are due to calve in spring so we will get a return fairly quickly.
“We sold 180 kg calves in Wagga about three weeks ago for 775c/kg.”
Reiland Angus also topped the PTIC spring calving heifers with Grant Simpson, Braidwood, outlaying $3600 on behalf of his wife Roslyn for 13 heifers, 29-30 months and weighing 566 kg.
Reiland co-principal Mark Lucas said normally many of the heifers offered would have been sold into an export market.
“It is important to retain our best cattle genetics within Australia – the season has allowed us to do that this year, rather than looking at exports to China, Russia and other destinations,” Mr Lucas said.
“We have been able to maximise the value out of their genetic potential for other cattle producers.
“The strong older cow prices of $1750-$2200 are underpinning the prices today for the PTIC heifers with people putting in another $600-$700 to buy a quality young cow.”
Rob Stubbs from Elders Tumut, said restockers from the local districts and the Monaro were strong on the autumn and spring calving heifers.
“It was right up on the money where we thought it would be with a magnificent yarding of cattle,” he said.
“People are still rebuilding and willing to pay the right money for the right genetics.”
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