Feed and export prospects likely to set a positive market

After last year’s North Island weaner sales were initially overshadowed by drought, then almost completely wiped out by the first Covid lockdown, this year’s series, running from early March to mid-May, is starting in more promising circumstances.

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With good feed on the ground in most districts, and long-term confidence around export prospects, farmers are heading to the sales feeling much more positive. Due to the restrictions in the Auckland region in the first week of March, sales at Tuakau and Wellsford will be rescheduled, though the rest of the programme is set to roll out successfully, with livestock tallies solid and the prospect of good competition on the buying bench.

In the market for straight bred weaner heifers, purchasers may be conscious of opportunities around live exports later in the year, knowing that those animals will need to be on farm for at least six months, potentially stimulating demand in the early part of the sales season.

As critical market factors are so different to last year, solid pricing predictions this early in the season are difficult to make.

Matt Langtry, PGG Wrightson  North Island Livestock Manager