The Murray Goulburn opening price announcement appeared to affect stud dairy values at today’s Designer Series sale at Warragul.
While the top heifer went for $25,000, buyers described the rest of the stud heifers as cheap.
The top-priced heifer, Lightning Ridge CMD Solomobn Bamba, offered by Declan Patten and Callum Moscript, sold for $25,000 to an undisclosed Portuguese buyer who bid via online site Live Bidding.
Les and Louise Calder. Picture: Emma Field
Another heifer, Lightning Ridge CMD Doorman Maika, sold by the same vendors, achieved the second highest price at $19,000 and was bought by Les and Louise Calder, of Meeniyan.
Ms Calder said they were pleased with the heifer they bought, but said most of the other heifers at the sale “seemed cheap”.
She said Murray Goulburn’s announcement wouldn’t have helped the sale, but said the industry was already fairly depressed.
“It was really flat today, with the exception of the (top two lots),” Ms Calder said
The average of the sale was $4412, and without the two top-priced heifers this average dropped to about $3400.
Leigh Jennings, of Maffra, picked up two heifers at the sale for $2400 and $2800 and said there were some “great prices” for buyers.
He said last week commercial cows were being sold for about $1950 at the Warragul saleyard. “That’s a good price, and today stud cattle were selling for the same amount,” he said.
Wendy Orchard, in partnership with her son-in-law Mark Boardman, of Yarragon, bought Lightning Ridge Make You Dance from vendors Mr Pattern and Brad Salmon for $6000.
Mr Boardman said there were “bargains galore” at the sale.
He said commercial and stud cattle he bought last month were much dearer in comparison with today’s sale.
He said the Murray Goulburn price announcement weighed on the sale.
“While it doesn’t affect me personally because I don’t supply them, it affects the confidence of the industry because they are still a major player,” he said.
Source: Weekly Times
