Gunnedah Powerhouse Weaner Sale sees strong prices for best ever yarding

Davidson Cameron and Company agents were running off limited sleep on Thursday after working into the early hours of the morning to weigh and present a high quality offering of weaners from as far as Coonabarabran, Quirindi, Narrabri, Tamworth and local Gunnedah area.

From Angus, Herefords, Limousins, Charolais and Brahmans, all those in attendance, even from as far away as the Burnett area of Queensland, were full of praise for the standard of stock available.

Davidson Cameron and Company's Luke Scicluna labelled the quality of the yarding the best in the sale's 14 year history.

"It's not our biggest yarding but the quality of the calves, with weight for age and the way they presented, was as good as I have ever seen," he said.

"We didn't have the dearest sale in the state but we had a good solid sale.

"Both vendors and purchasers would be happy; vendors happy with the prices and purchasers happy with the quality of the cattle and knowing there was a bit of room to hopefully make some money."

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Steers sold from 440c/kg to 728c/kg but the large majority sat around 500c/kg to 560c/kg while heifers ranged from 420c/kg to 592c/kg.

The first vendor of the day hit 660c/kg ($1487/hd) for 225 kilogram Angus cross steers from Dales Angus at Merriwa and those in attendance knew they needed a high budget to be a serious player.

Dales Angus went on to sell 162 steers in total averaging 617c/kg or $1604/hd in what was their first year offloading weaners into the Powerhouse sale.

Manager Elliott McKinnon said the steers featuring Knowla, Alumy Creek and Booroomooka bloodlines would normally be taken through to 500 kilograms and offloaded in September or October.

"The market was too good for us to carry them on...and this was an opportunity to wean before winter," he said.

"They were weaned yesterday at 7.30am and it was 160 kilometres to get them here."

A few pens later Lorraine Christie-Rockliff of Boggabri made a return to the weaner sale for the first time in four years selling her pen of Kansas Angus blood weaners weighing 393 kilograms for 482c/kg or $1897/hd.

Somerton's Scott Doyle also sold Angus steers, this time averaging 411 kilograms, for 492c/kg ($2022) while Hamblin Pastoral Company, Narrabri, also offered Angus steers, averaging 393 kilograms, for 484c/kg or $1904/hd.

The biggest vendor on the day was Stonehaven Grazing, Hartley, who sold 319 head with the best pen of 13 Limousin steers reaching 542c/kg ($1922/hd) at 354 kilograms.

Their heifers then made 545c/kg ($1622/hd) at 304 kilograms.

Coonabarabran's Norton and Judie Crane also had a pen of Limousin steers that made 536c/kg ($1945/hd) at 363 kilograms with the heifers making 552c/kg ($1654/hd) at 299 kilograms.

Before leaving the industry Dennis and Judith Lee of Quirindi sold 318 kilogram Angus steers to 550c/kg ($1749/hd) while their 344 kilogram Angus heifers made 528c/kg ($1819/hd). Their pregnancy-tested-in-calf Angus cows made $3050/hd.

Alexander Downs at Merriwa and Wilmot Cattle Company at Ebor were among the prolific buyers taking runs of steers home while AuctionsPlus also played a key role but local restockers were just as successful.

A pen of Angus cross weaner heifers weighing 180 kilograms from PA and MA Turnbull made the highest cents per kilogram price for young females of 592c/kg ($1069/hd).

Not far behind at 576c/kg ($1445/hd) were 251 kilogram Shorthorn weaners from Consulta Pro while 253 kilogram Charolais heifers from Hamblin made 566c/kg ($1431/hd).

In the joined female section of the sale, Bellbrook Farms, Currabubula, sold 22 PTIC Angus cows for $3425/hd.

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