Sheep & Beef

Shane Gerken - South Island Livestock Manager

Buyers are being very selective with the quality of cattle they purchase, which is typical at this time of the year.

Better quality types of both traditional/beef and dairy-beef are available and these are seeing strong competition at both the saleyards and in the paddock.

Store lambs supply has begun to dry up, particularly in the South Island, with the sale yards remaining the preferred channel to buy and sell lambs.

The average lamb price has remained steady at $7.90/kg. There is a wide range of prices depending on where lambs are sent. Lambs fetched up to $8.10/kg at the top end. Mutton pricing is varied with  the most common range sitting between $5.20-$5.50/kg.

Dairy

Jamie Cunningham - National Dairy Sales Manager

With calving well underway across the country our clients are very much head down at present. Feeder calf sales around the North Island are performing well with interest from calf rearers on the quality calves.

We are well underway with our Defer-a-bull campaign and discussing service bull requirements and options with our clients. Defer-a-bull has been a great tool for clients to purchase their bull teams without having to fund them up front and putting pressure on cashflow early in the season.  The success of this product is proven with its return customers, with some clients having used the product for 10 years.

We still have strong enquiry for Rising 1 year Friesian heifers with the export market into China proving to be very keen and competitive on dairy heifers.

Let’s hope that all parts of the country get an early Spring and the 2019/2020 season gets as much of that valuable pre-Christmas production out the gate as possible.

Genetics

Ryan Shannan - Livestock Genetics Rep

We’ve had great success at a majority of the 2yr old sales in May and June and we look forward to preparing for the upcoming yearling sales in Spring.  

It’s now time to contact your Genetics or Livestock rep regarding bull purchases for your dairy herd. Our specialist team can offer sound advice when purchasing bulls to suit your requirements, whether your focus is on calving ease, high growth or short gestation. Using beef genetics is a powerful tool when marketing your calves, along with the extra dollars that contribute to your bottom line.

We have many options for purchasing reputable bulls, whether it’s through auction sales, private treaty or through the Bidr online Trading Platform.  Whichever way you choose to buy, we can offer EBVs to help with your selection and different price ranges to suit your requirements.

For further assistance feel free to contact your local rep who can help you with breeding better business.