- Kindee sell 956 steers and 591 heifers at Roma
- Steers topped at 392c/kg, heifers reached 342c/kg
- Average steer return $1189, heifers averaged $1030/hd
A HEAVIER line of weaner cattle from the Kindee Pastoral Company, Injune and Taroom, did little to turn away local and online buyers from paying high prices as they stocked up on the renowned genetics at today’s Roma store sale.
Ian, Janie, Andrew and Stuart Murray’s annual weaner turnoff saw 956 steers and 591 heifers sell with the average weights up by almost 50kg on last year.
The steers sold for an average of 364c/kg at 326kg to return $1189/hd while the heifers made 325c/kg at 317kg to return $1030/hd.
That’s compared with last year’s sale where of the 1300 weaners, steers averaged 385c/kg for 289kg to return $1114/hd and heifers averaged 262kg at 352c/kg to return $924/hd.
The Kindee cattle come from an original base Santa Hereford herd with crosses of Charolais, Angus and Shorthorn genetics.
SHORTHORN SUCCESS
Shorthorn bulls are the most recent addition to the herd when bulls were purchased from Weebollabolla Shorthorn Stud, Moree in 2010.
Weebollabolla principal Sandy Munro purchased 700 of Kindee’s weaners from their Roma sale last year when bidding online in an Australian first live online commercial cattle auction through Elite Livestock Auctions.
This year Mr Munro was on hand to bid in real time when he secured 228 steers, particularly the Shorthorn cross.
The steers will be put on moby black barley pastures for about three months before moving to Weebollabolla’s 1000 head feedlot as part of a niche Shorthorn program where they will be fed for 200 days before being killed for high end quality China restaurants.
The first of two consignments of meat has recently departed.
Having downsized their operation and sold breeder country, Mr Munro said it was clients like the Murray’s who were producing quality cattle with Weebollabolla genetics that were integral to their business moving forward.
“They (the steers purchased this year) are vastly superior to the last two generations,” he said.
While Kindee has been breeding weaners since 1927, Ian Murray couldn’t help but shed a tear when he saw the weaners for the first time penned at the saleyards.
Mr Murray and wife Janie now live in Toowoomba and it was the first time they hadn’t been involved in the weaning and drafting process before the sale.
He said the secret to their success was ensuring their breeders on their properties Cowangah, Taroom, and Muya, Injune, had plenty of feed.
Having a crossbred herd allowed them to easily manipulate and produce quality cattle, Mr Murray said.
“Weight is everything, weight is money to us,” he said.
“It is dry, everywhere is dry...but we don’t overrun.”
MORE ROMA RESULTS
The Allen family, Mountain Cottage, Roma, sold 136 Angus cross steers and 145 heifers at the Roma store sale on Tuesday.
The steers topped at 384c/kg with the line averaging 369c/kg at 307kg to return $1136/hd. The heifers reached 337c/kg for an average of 335c/kg at 290kg to return $976/hd.
Buyers weren’t the only ones filling the laneways for the yarding of more than 9000 head, about 100 tourists took part in the weekly Roma Saleyards tours.