LOCAL STOCK SALES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 19 November 1927, Page 12

LOCAL STOCK SALES

WEEK'S REVIEW AND FORECASTS. (By “Sundowner.”) The past week has witnessed some Interesting developments in connection with the stock market. As a direct result of the welcome rain which the district has experienced, cattle, to cope with the very considerable grass growth which is now taking place, have been very keenly competed for . Prices have firmed very considerably and few lines offered are not pushed by competing buyers beyond the reserves fixed by vendors, RULING FAT CATTLE PRICES. As a result of pasture conditions, the stock which are now coming forward for sale are in great order, and there should be no excuse for vendors offering poor store stock or unfinished fats this Reason. The fat cattle at Waipukurau on Tuesday last were a much better lot than usual, while tne offering at Stitftford. though limited, was all of good quality Prices at present ruling are £ll 10/- to £l2 51- for Prime heavy bullocks, £lO 10/- to £ll _ 51for prime. £9 to £lO 10'- for medium and £7 to £8 10/- for light.

Fat ewes are worth up to £8 for prime to £7 for medium, to £5 10/for light, and about £4 liar unfinished. Heifers are in rather short supply, prime quality bringing up to £8 51- medium to £7 2/6 and light £4 to £5. GOOD STORE CATTLE OFTTIftING There have been an exceptional number of lines of good station cattle offering through both markets during thp past week or two an-1 buyers have shown their appreciation, of quality in the prices paid. 'Wellgrown, forward store station bred bullocks are fetching £8 10/- to £9: good stores of the same age to £8; 3-year steers about £7 10/-, 2-year-olds, if well grown and in good condition. £8 10/- to £7, others of this age, smaller and hard in condition I£s to £6. Yearling station bred heifers are worth about £4 10/-. A fair number of station heifers, Polled Angus, Hereford. Shorthorn and their crosses, were offered at Waipukurau last week, though none were available through Stortford. Good 2-year-olds brought £4 16/-. 3-year-olds £5 12/- good young empty cows in fresh condition £5 12/-. and dairy cross cows with fair frames and in fresh condition about £4. DAIRY SORTS, The usual nondescript collection of dairy cows were offered at both sales, the only offerings of real interest to dairymen being one or two lines of yearling Jersey heifers at Stortford. Most of these were undersized though fairly well bred. Prices realised ranged from £4 1/. to £4 12/-. FAT SHEEP HARDENING In neither market was there a big offering of fat sheep, anfl as a consequence of this butchers were forced to go a little beyond freezing rates to secure their requirements; Most of the lines were well finished and some, indeed, overweight for freezing purposes. Prime shorn ewes «re fetching up to 20/3, medium to 18/8 and light to 17/-. Prime woolly ewes are worth £7 to £8 more than those off shears and in view of . the soundness of the wool market would look to be the best buying. Fat woolly hoggets at Waipukurau looked reasonably cheap at 27,6. while prune shorn maiden ewes brought 24/3 at Stortford, Very tew fat wethers are offering through the .yards at present, but some were sold at Stortford on Wednesday at 26/1 for prime and 23/6 for light, both lots being off shears. STORE SHEEP EXPENSIVE. A line of over 1000 well-grown, well woolled two-tooth wethers in good condition elicited keen competition at Stortford. These brought their fortunate breeder 23/9 to 24/1 at which figures there does not appear at the moment to be much margin left for fattening. Other lines of two-tooiths, al] in good fresh to forward condition, brought 20/- to 24/- according to size and type, while four-tooth forward wethers sold at 25/-. Al] these of course were out of the wool. Mixed sex woolly hoggets brought 28/8 to 30/2, while shorn m.s. two-tooth s are worth from 20/- to 22/-. MARKET FORECASTS. In view of th e abundance of feed everywhere, cattle are likely to be the most wanted stock for the next month or two, and young sheep may not do so well in the way of putting on condition as their owners hope. Sheep have probably reached the limit of their value for the season and may even be bought more cheaply later on. We usually experience a slight drop in values during February and March when the surplus breeding ewes are on the market. Two-tooth wethers in forward condition will probably hold up to present values unless something serious happens to affect the Home market, but four-tooths may come back slightly as these heavy sheep are not what is now required by mutton buyers at Home.