Record steer price £204

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32660, 16 July 1971, Page 14

Record steer price £204

High prices were paid for steers at Addington this week, but there is still a long way to go before a record can be claimed for Addington, or for NewZealand.

Back in the winter of 1920 a huge bullock, which turned the scales at more than 30001 b live-weight, fetched £204 ($408). "The Press” report of Addington market, dated August 4. stated: “The sensation of the market was the price of £204 for a magnificently finished purebred Shorthorn bullock whose live-weight is 30561 b, and he was ‘travelled’ 14 miles to the railhead.”

In a separate article on the steer “The Press” reported that “bidding started at £B5 and advanced steadily to £l2O. Bidding then became confined to two local butchers, one of whom was Messrs Dixon’s representative.

“The price mounted rapidly from this stage, bid following bid in quick succession. As each £lO was added to the total, a cheer went up from the huge crowd watching the sale, and when the £l5O was reached, the excitement became intense.

“There was no abatement of keenness on the part of the bidders, however, and the total mounted steadily till £2OC was reached.

"At this stage it became apparent the sale was nearing an end. Messrs Dixon's representative. however, capped each of his opponent’s bids, and at £204 the bullock was knocked down to him.” The huge bullock, which was bred by Mr R. A. Trotter, of Kurow>, was never put on the hooks. He was purchased by two showmen, who put him on board a ship bound for the United States. The bullock, however, never set foot on land again. He died at sea. To return to Addington: recent prices for prime cattle have never been so high since the Second World War. The bullock which topped this week’s market at $274 w-as a Friesian, and an interesting point was that he was a twin of another bullock which fetched $271. The

vendor was Mr C. S. Donald, who bred and reared the two steers on his dairying property at Kaiapoi. Heifer and cow- prices are also reaching new “highs” at Addington, and agents with a long association with Addington believe that new records could be claimed for this centre, with a heifer fetching $177, and a cow $172.50. Two weeks ago some Hereford breeding cows soared to $156, and it seems that here, too, prices have reached a level never thought possible a few years ago.