ADDINGTON MARKET

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24800, 14 February 1946, Page 6

ADDINGTON MARKET

LOWER PRICES FOR FAT CATTLE

STEADY DEMAND FOR STORE STOCK The yarding of fat cattle at Addington yesterday was the heaviest for some time, due no doubt to the continued dry weather, and prices showed an appreciable drop compared with those of last week. Fat sheep were also forward in large numbers, and although there was a slight easing in the demand because of restricted refrigerated space, the sale generally was well up to recent standards. Another big entry of store lambs realised satisfactory prices, which appeared to be beyond the limits of some visiting buyers from southern districts. STORE SHEEP The entry in the store sheep section was about 19,000, against 21,000 last week, and of this number 12,000 were lambs. The quality of the lambs was not as attractive as that of a week ago, and as a result of this and of the dry weather, the prices realised were quite satisfactory from the point of view of vendors. There was a widespread demand for the best lambs, and prices for these showed a rise of about is a head, while all other classes shared in the improved sale. Buyers were present from southerh districts, where the feed position is more favourable than in the north, but their limits were evidently restricted, as they could not operate at the ruling figures. A pen of 86 Corriedale cross wether lambs from Cheviot topped the market at 25s 6d, and other sales of wether lambs included 85 Corriedale cross from Cashmere 23s sd, 81 Corriedale-cross from North Canterbury 22s 3d, 186 halfbred from North Canterbury 21s lOd, and 80 at 21s 3d. A pen of 38 ewe lambs from the Cheviot district sold for 25s 6d, and another of 79 three-quarterbred from North Canterbury sold for 23s 3d. Other good wether lambs ranged from 18s 6d to 20s Id; medium from 14s 3d to 17s, and light and inferior from 8s 3d to 12s 6d. The adult sheep section was comprised mostly of ewes of various ages, and all sold well. pe ? two-tooth halfbred ewes made 31 ?. 6d « and a pen of Romney two-tooths 32s ’ South-mouth ewes made from ~* s ,® d and failing-mouth ewes from 9s to 12s. FAT LAMBS The entry of fat lambs totalled 3867 against 2703 last week and 4082 two weeks ago, and included some of the biggest drafts of the season. Most of the yarding was of freezing quality, and with an over-supply of this lighter class, the marmciWed^ to show a weakening tendency, while the congestion at the L a !lT? feezing works due to lambs being rushed in during the prevailing dry spell also had an influence on the demand by the freezing buyers. Yet the sale was a ?°^P d S 5. e ’ ar ? d there were very few passR g FrJhJ ?w?n St i? r f Ce WaS credited to (Willowby), who sold 26 at the wXt 4 rrS=f 43s ld - Several drafts from the West Coast were forward, the best sales including: W. A. Jamieson (KoiteI? from 34s Id to 36s 7d° n N. Ha?7ri- 67 from 28s ld to 36s 97c SJ c ? B ros. (Kokatahi), 76 from sold ld; W. Elliott (Cheviot), H?L d at .* rom 30s Wd to 35s 7d. The b'ggest draft was sent in by the BrookValues were:— ££ a lambs - 36s 7d to 43s Id. lamb J- 28s ld to 31s lOd. Medium and light, 23s 4d to 26s 7d.

«i<The yarduig of fat shep was about 5000 the same as last week, and included some pens of prime quality wethersi These and* reaU S ed^iih d n d?mand from but chers, thA hlgh Prices as compared with the top figures at recent sales The ewe to a fr«,<X' aS K not as sound .however, du® buyers not being as active tas la_t week, because of the rapid filling of nr^ C th<» aVa d la i ble at the works by lambs. tbe whole, prices for wethers did not noti ceable change, but those especially for medium and h^lh.r.T ro^ ped by ab °ut Is a head. The p lg Tv> St pnce .t® r wethers was secured by F Taverner (Orari), who sold 64 RomJ H f J 13 ld to 54s 7d > and l W e o > f £ M s &om r «s r °ld X‘47° n 7 sold ai Values were:—

Extra prime wethers, 51s ld to 54s 7d. Prime wethers, 44s Id to 47s 7d. 36s me I P edium -weight wethers, 30s to Light wethers, 26s to 29s 6d. Prime young ewes, to 31s. Extra prime aged ewes, 19s 6d to 23s 6d. Prime ewes, 17s to 18s 7d. Medium ewes, 15s to 17s. Light ewes, 11s to 14s.

mu FAT CATTLE temperatures in the last week, after a period of drying north-west winds, accentuated the seasonal decline in the ?f?P a ? d fQr heavy beef, and the fat cattle sa ?®. . was filled wtii consignments which might have been held longer by graziers j farmers had not the dry spell caused feed to go off so rapidly. The entry was CTO compared with 509 last week, and v Y as i ,. a large proportion of cows. Although there were some attractive entries of heavy beef, this class was passed by butchers in favour of lighter cattle of prime quality. Butchers indicated that they were each buying a body of beet less each week than in the cooler weather, and that the bigger firms would probably show a greater proportionate reduction. The demand for beef by housewives was lower than ever this month. With this situation, the market generally eased by 10s a head on values of the last two weeks, the deterioration being less noticeable for the lighter prime cattle than in the sale of big bullocks. The last races sold comprised almost wholly old caws, and prices dropped back by more than a head, while some inferior steers slipped by as much as 30s a head. Best beef made to 50s per 1001 b, good to 465, medium to 43s 6d; best cow beef to 355, and secondary to 30s. Values were:— Extra prime steers, to £22 7s 6d. Prime steers, £l7 15s to £2O 2s 6d. Prime medium-weights steers, £l5 2s tid to £l7 7s 6d. Good steers, £ll 10s to £l5. Extra prime heifers, £l4 12s 6d to £l5 2s 6d. Prime heifers, £ll 7s 6d to £l3 17s 6d. Good heifers, £lO to £ll 2s 6d. Medium heifers, £8 to £9 15s. Light, to £7 10s. Prime cows, £lO to £ll 12s 6d. Ordinary cows, £7 2s 6d to £9. Light cows, to £6. Among the best sales were:—On account of A. Sharp (Halswell), 20 steers at £l7 12s 6d to £22 7s 6d; Guildford Estate (Port Levy), 21 steers at £l5 12s 6d to £l9 12s 6d, 4 heifers at £l3 17s 6d (all tw > and a half years); J. Bland (Winchmore), 4 steers at £l9 2s 6d to £2l 17s 6d; F. S. Gordon (Rotherham), 20 steers at £l4 12s 6d ta £lB 2s 6d (two to two and a half years); L. D. Stanbury (Wainui), 8 steers at £lB 17s 6d; T. C. Robinson (Mount Palm), 15 heifers at £ll 7s 6d to £l3 17s 6d; estate W. F. Parkinson (Kaituna), 11 steers at £l9 17s 6d to £22 7s 6d; J. G. Truman (Le Bon's Bay), 6 heifers at £l2 2s 6d to £l4 12s 6d, 9 cows at £lO 17s 6d to £l2 7s 6d; Dalglish Bros. (Le Bon’s Bay), 5 steers at £l7 7s 6d to £2l 7s 6d; Jackson Bros. (Purau), 8 heifers at £l3 12s 6d to £l5 2s 6d; D. C. Hay (Pigeon Bay). 8 steers at £lB 7s 6d to £l9 17s 6d; J. B. Hay (Pigeon Bay), 16 steers at £lB 17s 6d to £2O 7s 6d; F. Wall (Hari Hari). 8 steers at £l7 17s 6d to £l9 7s 6d; estate E. C. McDermott (Halswell), 12 steers at £l6 12s 6d to £l7 17s 6d: P. Moore (Okain’s Bay), 4 heifers at £l4 2s 6d to £l6 7s 6d, 4 cows at £9 17s 6d to £l3 17s 6d; H. and F. Edwards <Kaiapoi), 13 steers at £l7 17s 6d to £2l 2s 6d.

STORE CATTLE An outstanding entry of 46 Black Polls, aged 18 months, from Omihi, gave greatlyincreased interest to the store cattle sale where, otherwise, the market was of medium size and quality, with only a limited inquiry, because of the dry weather. Of the feature line, 26 steers made £8 15s to £9 10s, and the 20 heifers averaged £7 2s 6d a head. The remainder of the entry comprised odd lots of cows, which were hard to sell.

DAIRY CATTLE The entry in ’ the dairy cattle section was about 60 head, with heifers predominating. In this class several goodquality sorts were offered, but they did not meet with the animated sales of recent weeks. The entry of cows was of only ordinary quality, and only the better types met with any competition. The buyers round the pens showed no keenness, probably because of the dry conditions prevailing, and, taken as a whole, the market was qn a par with the lower rates of a week ago. , Best heifers made £l4 to £l7, with one sale at £l9; good average sorts, £lO to £l3 10s; ordinary and backward, £8 to £9 10s; best second, third, and fourth calvers, £l2 10s to £l6 10s, with one Friesian at £lB 10s; medium to good cows, £9 10s to £l2; aged and inferior, and unattractive, £4 10s to £8 ss.

VEALERS The entry in> the vealer section was of medium size and the quality was not as good as a week ago. Ordinary calves formed a fair proportion of the entry. The sale was sound throughout at prices on a par with the good rates of last week, and the whole entry was taken by butchers, a total clearance being effected. Values were:—large vealers, £7 8s 6d to £9 16s; others, £5 13s 6d to £7 3s 6d; best quality suckers, £4 18s 6d to £6 8s 6d; medium, £3 13s 6d to £4 16s; large calves, 55s to 78s: medium, 32s to 525; small and rough. 10s to 30s.

FAT PIGS The porker yarding was much smaller than that of last week, and competition was keen all round, except for the overfat types. These were again sold at a large discount The chopper yarding was much smaller, and although buyers were not over keen, values were better by about £1 a head. In the bacon section, the yarding was a large one, but values recovered the drop of last week and all classes had a firm market. Values were:— Light porkers, £3 4s 6d to £3 9s 6d. Medium, £3 14s 6d to £3 17s 6d. Heavy, £3 19s 6d to £4 9s 7d. Choppers, £5 18s 6d to £l5 Is. Light baconers, £4 12s 6d to £4 17s 6d. Medium, £4 19s 6d to £5 12s 6d. Heavy, £5 17s 6d to £6 4s 6d. Extra heavy, £6 7s 6d to £6 14s 6d. Average price per lb, B%d to SVtd. STORE PIGS The yarding of store pigs was much larger than that of a week ago, and the attendance of buyers was also a little larger. Competition, however, was not so animated, and values were easier by 3s to 4s a head. Values were:—small weaners, 23s to 28s; best, 32s to 365; slips, 40s to 445; small stores, 46s to 495; medium, 50s to 535; large stores, 54s to 595. BURNSIDE (P.A.) DUNEDIN, Feb. 13. An all round easing of prices, with the exception of the rates obtained for prime quality bullocks, occurred at the weekly auction of stock at Burnside today. The major sections attracted fairly large yardings. The number of cattle up tor auction was 320. Prime quality cattle were limited, the major portion oi the yarding comprising medium quality, with a fairly large yarding of secondary cows. Best quality beef maintained last week's values, but other grades eased in price. Best quality bullocks fetched up to £24 2s 6d; prime, £l9 17s 6d to £22 7s 6d; medium, £l7 2s 6d to £lB 2s 6d; light, from £l6 12s 6d; extra prime heifers, up to £l3 12s 6d; prime, £ll 12s 6d to £l2 12s 6d; medium, £9 2s 6d to £lO 2s 6d; light, from £8 7s 6d; extra prime cows, up to £l3 2s 6d; prime, £lO 2s 6d to £ll 12s 6d; medium. £8 12s 6d to £9 12s 6d; light, from £8 2s 6d. There were 2300 lambs for sale. Last week’s high values were riot maintained, and prices generally could be quoted from 2s to 3s a head lower. Extra prime lambs brought up to 355, prime, 30s to 335; medium, 26s 6d to 28s 6d; light, from 245. The yarding of fat sheep was in excess of requirements, the market opening under weaker competition than was the case at the previous sale, blit improving slightly as the sale progressed. Prices, however, were also from 2s to 3s lower than last week. Extra prime wethers fetched up to 455; prime, 40s to 435; medium, 35s to 37s 6d; light, from 28s; prime heavy ewes, up to 24s 6d; prime, 21s to 235; medium, 17s to 18s 6d; light, from 14s 6d.

The store cattle section was a small one, and quality was indifferent. One pen of two-year-old Hereford steers made £9 17s. Another pen of Poll Angus cross of the same age sold for £lO.

Fat pigs numbered 240, the largest offered for many auctions. Heavy-weight baconers had a setback in price because of further restrictions imposed by the authorities. Prime baconers had a good s^l e ’ - best sorts realising from £7 5s to £7 15s; medium, £5 18s to £6 10s.