H.B. STOCK SALE REVIEW

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 14, 9 October 1937, Page 16

H.B. STOCK SALE REVIEW

Past Week's Selling Was Quieter ST0RE CATTLE SLUMP The fat cattle was the only section to maintain its values in this week's selling which in other sections was subdued. Fat .sheep sold in the butchers* . favour to the extent of 3/- tb 4/-.' Woblly wether hoggets, praetically, held (iheir own with a struggle. Ewes and lambs were down 1/6 a head while the store cattle market was lifeless with in* quiry at a minimum, which was in direct contrast to three weeks ago when selling was particularly brisk. • Conditions during the last fortnight have been responsible for the change of tone in the' market. An absence of growth together with the high westerlies for several days, have made T>rosr peetive buyers timid, Fortunately,' all the hill country is not so. affected, but this country is already quite well stocked up with cattle and an inquiry cannot be looked for from these quarters. "There is .no grass," was to be heard on all sides in both saleyards and the' position was not considered likely to improve without a useftil rain. The rates set three or four weeks ago wero definitely much too high, blit unfavourable circumstances are compelling an adjustment which is not proving acceptable to many vendors. Solitary Bids. "We want more money than that," is the frequent announcement'as lines are passed. The large attendance appeared to be quite content simply to look on with the result that solitary bids only were forthcoming for a number of entries. The bright spot in both of the large offerings of store , cattle was the good selling. of female cattle at Waipukurau due to the activities of buyers from the West Coast. , Taranaki interests wera keen after empty cows and one large draft will be transported to Waverley. A. similar demand, however, was not in evidence at Stortford Lodge the following day where there was a drop of 20/a head and more. ' HeiferS, which should make a good breeding line, made the best selling on Wednesday and a good line from Tutira was purchased for Ohurakura. ' The two-year steers suffered the greatest reverse. Several 'of -the lots were ragged, due to hard wintering, but although the best linea were quite. good, they found the benches in the rostrum frozen. They were simply - not . wanted and despitB the pressing inducements no yielding was shown. ' Yearling steers, towever, made a much better showing when. an exceptionally well-bred draft, showing size and quality, met the market at £6 11/-. The poorer grown lines showed. no development since being weaned but one or two farmers considered that they had .made quite. good biiying at £5 for pens with goodl coats, but were backward or were latfi calvers. Tutira Cattle. The large draft railed dn account of . Tutira Station demonstrated the value of the East Coast rail'way for the transport of store cattle which, in .this case, obviated fully five days on the road, and the" cattle being einpty when they wero yarded. Late calving cows in low condition are difficult to trade at any rate at all. Breeding cows this season have proved to be a risky proposition due to the mortality among calves as .the result of mal-nutrition. Jn Central Hawke's Bay several farmers report that they had suffered fairly heavy lqsses of calves duo to their mothers' not being- able to nourish them while in the foetus. The little advantage that butchers wero able to gain two weeks ago fqjr fat cattle they had to forfeit as, owing to the short yard in which quality pens wero in short supply, prices drifted back praetically on a par with the season's peak price-levels. Mr Robert Harding's second pen were a fine example of baby beef, being well bred and off good paddocks. They were in splendid condition and when hung up should be equal to the ehoicest young beef to be seen anywhere. Quality as the result "of first class breeding was prominent in the same.offering of female sorts Jn from- Gwavas Station. The finish-was.a reflection of gdod feeding. The butchers displayed a keen rivalry in order to seeure this particularly good offering. Many of the -female pens were in store condition only and interested grazers rather than the butchers. « Easing on Hoggets. Although. values for woolly wether hoggets held fairly well, the bidding was subdued and prices were made only after a struggle. The market is de- , finitely easier than it was four weeks ago and those who sold then came* in on the crest of the buying wave. Ewes with lambs at foot were cheap er, despite the good quality of some oi the entries, in which the lambs were well developed and forward. Pens where

I the lambs were late suffered the biggesd drop. The ewes were not badly mouthed, but the lambs not having size told against them. The fat- sheep yarding was greatijj swelled by dry ewes and. the butchers, not troubled with outside competition, were able to bring the values back a •margin in their favour. The^ drop last week of 2/6 for sheepskins also affected the position. • As the Sale progressed values eased back with the result that heavy prime well woolled ewes were as much as 2/- a head cheaper than the opening pens. Nevertheless, there were no cheap sheep and no bargains were made on the day. TJsusally fat sheep are a good margin cheaper at •Waipukurau thaxT at Stortford Lodge, due to the lack of competition, but such was not the case this week when there was little difference, Butchers from Hastings who bought at Waipukurau on Tuesday did not gain any advantage. ' Mr Robefrt Harding was again" 'the first in with shorn ewes which. were in excellent condition, making several shillings more than some of the unshont pens. ' The spring lambs penned were on the light side not being in anything like the condition of some to be Been grazing opposite Waipatu near the showgrounds. These are in exceptional order and wiH be ready for the first boat^