After standing dormant throughout 2019, the Barcaldine saleyards were filled with action last Friday when 1429 cattle from Nardoo Pastoral NQ at Cloncurry went under the hammer for an average 385 cents/kg.
Selling agent, Bill Seeney from Ray White Longreach and Barcaldine, said it had been a very satisfactory outcome for Peter and Anne Woollett's Brahman Droughtmaster cross cattle, grossing $1.623m or an average of $1136/head.
"They'd done their first round muster and had a lot of good cattle to make a plan with," he said.
"They had to go under the auction system and the yards at Barcaldine were perfect for their needs.
"They held that number well and gave good access to a diverse catchment of buyers."
Mr Seeney said the draft was made up of good quality Brahman Droughtmaster cross feeder and weaner steers and heifers, with enough Brahman content to handle ticks but soft enough for southern feedlot markets.
The market was on a par with elsewhere in the state last week or stronger in sections, given the big lines available.
The whole draft was sold in 42 minutes.
"There was very active competition, three or four bidders on each lot," Mr Seeney said.
"I think it was a great result for Barcaldine too, with 46 decks rolling into town and then back out after the sale.
"We had plenty of people attending and the shops remarked on the upturn in trade."
The yards were used consistently throughout 2018 when the Blackall yards were being upgraded.
Barcaldine Regional Council mayor Sean Dillon said while the Barcaldine yards didn't have the scale of Blackall or Longreach's facilities, they offered the chance for a single vendor to showcase their cattle and not get lost in the crowd.
"It has all the facilities of the larger yards," he said. "I believe there's potential for a couple more of those types of sales a year."
Mr Seeney said the feeder steers went to the Darling Downs and NSW while store steers found buyers at Alpha and NSW, and the store heifers went largely to Roma and Goondiwindi.
The 23 top feeder heifers sold for 364.2c/kg at an average weight of 356.7kg, or $1299.24/head.
The top pen of 17 weaner heifers sold for 418.2c/kg, weighing an average 236.5kg, bringing $988.92/head.
In total, the 261 heifers averaged 382.1c/kg at an average weight of 280.5kg, for $1071.74/head.
The sale's 23 top mickeys brought 422.2c/kg for an average weight of 213.3kg, or $900.39/head.
The total draft of 216 mickeys averaged 406.8c/kg, with an average weight 221.0kg, bringing $899.17/head.
The top pen of 21 feeder steers sold for an average 368.2c/kg, weighing 396.4kg and bringing $1459.65/head.
In the weaner steers, the top pen of 17 brought 446.2c/kg, with an average weight of 232.4kg, bringing $1036.76/head.
The total of 952 steers averaged 382.4c/kg, weighed 315.9kg, and resulted in a price of $1207.86/head.