A weaner bull sale of two halves

These Hereford X bulls from Hoggy's Farming reached a top price of $640/head.

It was hard going for the auctioneers at the Dannevirke and Pahiatua Weaner Beef Sale December 10, at least for the first half when nearly 500 Friesian bulls went under the hammer and prices were a way below the last sale.

These Borlase AngusX heifers sold for the average heifer price of $510/head.

Barely a line sold for more than $500/head and the average was $450. This reflects the prices throughout the North Island according to PGG Wrightson's Livestock Rep Tim Pickering.

These Cook Charolais bulls sold for $550/head.

It was a different story for beef cross breeds with a small but keen group of bidders pushing prices for the best lines over $600, the top price being from Hoggy's Farms at $640/head. Prices seldom dropped below $500 for the remainder.

Friesian bulls totalled nearly 75 per cent of those for sale.

There were 110 heifers in the sale ranging from the top price of 605/head to the lowest in the $430-440 bracket.

The next sale is on January 14 and a larger entry of beef X breeds is expected.