An excellent season in the Benambra district produced good quality, well-finished steers and heifers in forward store to fat condition which were rewarded with solid prices at the third East Gippsland mountain calf sale today.
The top pen of Hereford steers made $1110, paid for pen LR Lee & Son, Tablelands. The Lee family sold 48 Hereford steers to average $1095 per head.
The majority of the sale's larger number of steers sold from $800 to $990 with three pens making more than $1000/head.
The Benamabra sale had a number of young, August-drop calves, with most making from $500-$720 and lighter cattle fetching prices estimated to be around 250-260c/kg.
There was a larger penning of heifers this year, of which a significant number were young calves, from 180-250kg, and sold from $380-$550. The older heifers sold from $550-$760.