LIVE-STOCK MARKET REVIEW

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 11, 28 January 1937, Page 6

LIVE-STOCK MARKET REVIEW

Still No Relief For The Buyers HAWKE'S BAY SALES

Neither of this weeh's saies of live stock at Waipukurau and Stortford L'odge has brought any relief to buyers, 1 who thoroughly deserved the isolated line or two which made good buying. Principal interest remained centred upon the store-sheep pens, in which yardings of 10,000 at Waipukurau and 22,000 at Stortford were offered. The Waipukurau yarding again included some splendid quality lines ux>ou which widespread interest was foeussed. Prices were foreed to higher levels, which- were received with no little amazement. "Shorn Romney-cross wether iambs reached the remaxkable level of 19/4. . ' For securing the top priee, Mr Harry Parsons, of Wanstead, i? to be commended for the excelient eondition ox his entry, which reflected both good oreeding and capable management of the flocK. Despite this high priee, these lambs made better buying tnan several of the cheaper lines, as they had size and eondition, while. their f reshness instantly caught the eye. The Porangahau district contmues to supply a large quota " of quality lines, which always feature in tne good selling. A mineral in the soil content is stated to be a valued contributing factor towards the good raising of most of the Coast lambs. The appearance of .many of these drafts is proof that this suggestioit is more than a theory. Several pens of good rape lamhs wero offered on Tuesday and were traded up to 21/6. The lines making this figurp were nicely grown, heing meaty and soon finished ou good rape. SMALL BWE LAMBS. The ewe lambs on Tuesday were chiefly small to medium grown, and conseuuently did not reach the values ruling the previous week, when well-growu lots reac*ted to 30/- a head. At Stortford Lodge the position regarding ewe lambs was rather the reverse, as the top line3 were b.etter grown than those of last week; but there was still room for improvement. The high selling of breefling ewes is mahirtcr many growers reluct'aut to offer their ewe lambs for sale; the odds in holding them for twelve months untu they are two-tooths is an attractive proposition, provided that the iight type of country is available. Although prices for laxnbs^ yesterday at Stortford Lodge showed little variaUon from those of the previous week, the quality of the better entries showed ' an improvement. -In some of the fat and forward black-faced lines wero cuite a number of killable sorts, wnxle on eood feed whole pens could be relied .upon to. add three or four pounds iu weight in a short peTiod, which at tho present freezing schednle affords an attractive margin to those who can turn over fairly large numbers. Certam buyers are undoubtedly purchasmg large numbers and even at the present high prices they will come out on the right side. . • . "Whether the same optimism can be extended to the second-quality lines is a problem. Although they are frequently deseribed as being good hold-over propositions, it has to be remembpred 'that they have to he wintered, and all farmers have not. got "hogget" country. Except on the coast, Hawke s Bay has earaed a reputation ^ which maltes hogget rearing a little risky. Some of the better lines of Romneycross weth'er lambs were better than they loolced. This applied to a /'Kanuka ' draft from the Rissington district. When the hand was put on them Ihey were carrying qiiite a lot of eondition and were worth all that they Tealised. BOOM PRICES FOR CULLS. * -Boom prices continued for "cull" lambs, and frequently out-sized values ruled. Buyers from Feilding and the West Coast continue to cperate freely for the small-grown baclcward weedy lines, even if they, are little bigger than rabbits. The farmers on the other coast probably know the secret of bringing on these poorly-done lambs. Running them with cows has proved quite suecessful — so mueh so that many West Coast farmers have made a paying sideline of it. "T got a new car out of my culls last week," remarked ene farmer. "Iu November, when everybody was an-. ticipating that we were going to oxperienee a dry spell, I . got busy aud .bought a line under 5/- a head. I put all the dope into them that they would take. I had them trucked in, as any road travel might have been the end of them'. I drafted them out carefully and was ready to take a chunce. I was astounded at the way they sold; some of the ewe lambs made over 21/- and the wethers over 13/-. 1 wi.sk the West ! Coast buyers luek with chem." Breeding' ewes were oh offer m in-' creased numbers and gave an indication of what can be expected at the ewe fair. "Taheke" four and sixtooths brought 31/-, which was disputed. Ou re-offer they made 33/-, being purchased by a well-known Eskdale fa-rniev. Four-year-old ewes from the same property made 30/-. Several entries of five and six-year-olds came forward, the outstanding of these being on account of Mr W. Kinqoss-Wliite, their appearan** fully reflecting the capable management for which his j "Omarunui" property is noted, GOOD MOUTHS MEAN A LOT. The less attractive lines were well and truly moulhed. Good mouths counted a great deal more than eondition, and where they were failing or the teeth all gone buyers regarded them as being little better than fattoning propositions. Quality was in evidence in the fat pens, and all the butchers were in the market. "T suppose they are not snbjeet to approval, ' ' remarlced a buyer when a top line qf wethers brought 29/-. He was assu'red that they -vyero sold. It is doubtful if -any auctioneer

would baulk at such a priee rrespMH tive of instructions. Frequeutly in the selling of all aee* tions the auctioneers announcfi: "That* will be subject to approval." Many buyers are not regarding this practica with favour, and they would be greatly Assisted in the fulfilling of their buying requirements if paxctioneers had more definite instructions. Another small yarding yesterday of fat eattle left the butcners with uo alternative, and as a resiilt pricea soared on the sharply advanced values of last week. Quality was fimited. Good lines were limited toi a few pens, the remainder being deseribed by one tbuteher as being rubbishy. Ox beef was represented by a solitary beast, and from the bidding the butchers appeared to want it at any priee, bids reaehing £14 before it was sold. Very plain aged cows readily made to £7 10/-; a few "weeks ago £5 would have been the outside value and difficult to get. These values will stiffen up the buying in the paddock. The latest reports are that good lines on the farm aro getting farther apart, and at, the monient nothing appears on the horizon to indicate any immediate downward trend in values for either quality mutton or beef. -