Mareeba Combined Agents penned a total of 513 head for this week’s prime and store sale, down by 201 head on the previous week.
Cattle were drawn from Tablelands, Mossman, Mt Carbine, Julatten Mt Garnet, Cooktown, Lakeland, Daintree, Coen and Chillagoe areas.
Local trade steers and good slaughter ox sold to same good rates as the previous week, selling between 249 – 257c/kg. A small butchering business from El Arish provided some extra competition on local trade heifers and cows and values remained firm. Slaughter ox sold to within 1c of last week’s top of 258c, while cows sold to a top of 207c, back 20c on the previous week. Bulls remained firm in value, with most selling between 200-220c with a few making a top of 240c.
There were some handy good quality stores available this week. A pen of Brangus steers attracted some interest, selling to a lotfeeder at 236c. Store heifers are reaching reasonable value with limited competition. Young store males are still selling well making 170 – 220c.
Local trade steers sold from 249c to 253c, local trade heifers ranged from 190c to 219c and local trade cows made from 176c to 214c. Ox suitable for slaughter sold from 160c to 257c, cows suitable for slaughter made from 166c to 207c, while bulls suitable for slaughter ranged from 140c to 240c.
Store steers topped at 236.2c, store heifers sold to 186c, younger store bulls reached 231c, and cows and calves sold to $700/unit.
