H.B. STOCK SALE REVIEW

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 31, 30 October 1937, Page 17

H.B. STOCK SALE REVIEW

Rain, Encourage Activity on Store Stock FAT PRICES HOLDING Throughout the dry area in Hawke's Bay the recent rains have proved to be a salvation and the reaction on the store stock market has heen most noticeable. At both eales this week a rostoration of confidence was responsible for a brightened market with trading showing a greater measure of activity. For the last few weeks with cnes of "no feed" being. heard on. all sides the market for store cattle had become depressed. Cattle, and plenty of them, are wanted in Hawke's Bay once th© feed comes away well, but until then. many of those interested will be content to jnst feel their way. Stations whp had had large numbers of cattle out to graze and had them back again w.ere in & precarious position- last week. Anxieties for many were greatly xeheved when the rain showed that it had set in. At neither "Waipukurau or Stortford Lodge were the offerings of cattle of such a nature as to thoronghly test the market in. regard to the response to the rain, but some of the saies made were 'a decided change from the lifeless selling At the last few saies. On Tuesday one line of yearling eteers, which were n°t a "flash'' lot, brought £5 18/-, wherees the week previous the auctioneer would have had the hardest thing to do to get £5. For two-year-oid eteers the bottom had almost fallen out of the selling, and, on WedneAday, a surprising recoyery was made when a line brought £8 15/- after competition that was quite widespread. Already-in~ quiries are being made for large lots of three-year eteers and young hullocks by those who, three weekft ago, W.ere sellers, ! jNb Wf»t OOMt lnqulry. Qn Wednesday the line* of emptycoWf tho| were offered -*er* flttfprtu^ nate *ia " not meetang' ' competition' from the Wesfe Coast where a Burprisingly gpod. deman^has xuled for some time, ' The* hard* winter has leffc its mark on most of these lots*, which, as fattehihg prepoSitions,' will have :toi bo carried weil through the summer, The •new season's' calves- are" now on most of the runa and the best -are quite forwaid, -hui where the. mother# wpre low in condition through shortage of ffeed, the foetus has snffgred. .accordingly. Wednesday'a offering of cows and calyes.was a reaily good solo, especially in view of the mixed lot that it wa?, in which the cows were light and, the calves J uneven, including - some 'thatwere much undersized. - The larger yarding of fat. cattle did not result in the butchers gaining any advantage. Prices for all lots showing finisfi .kept iip , to ' previous levels, due to the comparatively short .supply that was up to butchers1 quality. Many of the female pens wero quite well bred and had quality, but were nnfinished, some having gon© back due to the shortage of feed. These were graziers1 propositions rather than for butchers and how they can be sometimes described a $ being "heavy," "good cutting" or 4 'prime'1 is amazing. Good Raukawa Bullocks. In from Raukawa, Mr. Robert Harding had some good pens of mediumwejghi dehorned Herefordi bullocks which wero an attractive beef entry that had never been short of feed. A single extra primo heavy bullock, which was the subject of weight-guess-ing competition, found several of the experts well out, the range of .weighta being very wide. Few pens wer© offered from Gisborne, which. was due partly to vendors being busy with the Poverty Bay show held this week. However, a large consignment is promised for next week when one vendor plone will offer about 80 head. Local butchers have been gratefu} for the supplies from th© north although they have had to pay for them. The market is not expected to hold to the present high levels once there is a good supply of finished cattle. Beef at 4.0)/- per 1001b. and better leaves little margin, but this- season there has not been any alternative. Hoggets again made ihe priuc.ipal lines in the store pens and there was some speculation as to what iines olf the slxears would malie. On the day the shorn entries or the new seasons two-tooths appeared to make the botter buying, as th© purchasers were relieved of the anxieties of shearing. Fairlygrown lines in good order made 23/8 against an uushorn line at 32/-. On the whole, the offering of new twotooths was quite good, showing that as hogget^ they had winterod quite well The Leicester cross ewe is still a favourite with many farmers from the competition that was shown for a hue of four-tooth to four-year-olds, with sturdy lambs at foot, which made the splendid figure of 23/8 all counted. They were in contrast with the ewes with lambs in the other pens which brought to 19/0. The lambs all through wero more even and more sturdy than most of those offered previously. Values "all counted'1 so far this season are a defimte improvement on those" made this time last yeai Froui the prices beiug njade, the sehe.dule r.ate given by the works will need to keep up to a high level well through the season. The yarding of .fat sheep on Wednesday was not above butchers' requiro:

ments, especially wlien only two small pens were offered at Waipukurau, where Hastings butchers have drawn supplies at several of the previous saies. All interested are anxiously awaiting the announcement of the works' pricds and as a result, values are expected to conie back a little. Until the yardings increase Uiere will be little that the works will be able to gefc their own priw.