STOCK MARKET REVIEW

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1935, Page 11

STOCK MARKET REVIEW

FROSTS DAMAGE PASTURE RECORD YARDINGS OF SEASON. ! EXPORT SHEEP BUSINESS. .. r ' Newton King Ltd. reports • that although weather conditions have-been severe, it cannot be said that any adverse effects on the stock market have resulted. However, heavy toll on pastures is reported as a result of the frosts experienced and hdlders of surplus stock are exhibiting keenness to quit,. and increased yarding of classes difficult to winter may be the order from now on. Trade during the week through the medium of private treaty has been fairly well maintained, while that conducted under the hammer has, in most centres, represented record yardings for the season. Reject cows have constituted the bulk of trading, and it is unfortunate that some irregularity in realisations has been noticeable, mainly for reason, it .would seem, that the influx of this class has been such that the absorbing power has been taxed to beyond capacity, resulting at times in little keenness being displayed by buyers on account of congestion of handling space. However, the higher standard of values, which has been enjoyed from time to time since the lifting of the embargo on the export of this class, has been much .in advance of what was.earlier anticipated, and the result this may have on the spending power for replacements it‘is hoped will be reflected in realisations when the purchase Of the incoming season’s, requirements are more' seriously considered locally. At the moment, changing of dairy stock holds pride of place, but only-good cattle find favour, those mated early being preferred. Dairy herds are also being sought, but not sO freely as has been the order in previous years. Sales in this branch since the last report include 26 choice 2-year in-calf heifers at £5 10s, 48 good cattle at £5 2s 6d, 20 average to good quality 3-year in-calf heifers at £4 17s 6d, 52 crossbred 2-year in-calf heifers at £3 10s, 60 good quality Jersey and Jersey-cross dairy cows, July and August calvers, £6 6s for July delivery. In the weaner Jersey heifer market, little or no improvement in , the demand is noticeable, although those who have been fortunate enofagh to ease their supplies of in-calf cattle display a little more readiness to buy, but good quality cattle are scarce at their limits, and the satisfying of wants is difficult. Sale entries include few good cattle under this heading, but where quality and size is displayed with entries keen bidding to a point is the order, but few realise in advance of 30s. Those lacking breed and size are dull of sale, and from 10s to 20s is the order, according to quality and size. Paddock sales include 40 average to good cattle at’ from 25s to 30s, while ; a fair number of hold-over heifers, which at the moment are in good favour, have been put together in small lots at from 12S 6d to 20s.

Well bred station cattle continue to find a ready market, those of the Polled Angus breed being preferred. Paddock cows are also popular, and the youngest of the fair numbers of Jersey-cross and Holstein sorts yarded meet free competition and from 30s to 37s 6d is the order. Sales thorugh the medium of private treaty include's2 forward-conditioned 2iye'ar Hereford' heifers,at £4 55,'25 5-year Polled-Angus bullocks at £s*ss, 45 weaner P.A. heifers at "355, 32 20-month empty P.A. heifers at £2 17s 6d.- . Inquiry for all classes, of store, sheep has taken a new lease of life and, whejre yarded, consignments are" subject to' ke'6n bidding, especially ewe lambs. -Breeding ewes also enjoy free inquiry, those mated to Southdown ram being preferred. Most inquiry in this branch is satisfied through the medium pf private treaty, but some idea of the values ruling at auction can be gauged from the realisations recorded at the Hawera sale. on . Thursday last, when a good yarding of sheep was handled/ Good ewe ’lambs made from 19s to 20s, average sorts 17s lOd to 18s, fat and forward, wethers-20s do. 20s Bd, store wethers 17s Bd, fat and forward ewes 14s 2d, cull lambs 10s to 11s Id. Sales through the medium of private treaty include 350 medium wether lambs at 12s 6d, 280 medium wether lambs at 12s 6d. 200 full-mofith ewes mated to Southdown rarps 22s 6d, smal.l to medium 2-tooth ewes mated to Southdown rams 23s 6d.

-"Both the fat sheep and Cattle markets are firm at late rates, with no suggestion of any easing in prices in either branch. The question.' of supply and demand is undoubtedly having a bearing on values for local consumption in the mutton section, especially with regard-. to ewes. Butchers’ requirements ; are being satisfied at the following rates: Wethers 23s 6d to 24s 6d, ewes 17s 6d to 20s, the latter price being obtained for the best quality young ewes. While ho advance in the export schedule for lamb has been announced,, considerable business with exporters has ’ been negotiated during the week. At auction, up to 21s 9d has been paid for good lambs, while sales through the medium of private treaty include a line of 250 average to good sheep at from 15s to 18s 6d.

Exporters’ competition continues to as-', sist in the sustaining of the recent advance in auction values for the heavier class of fat. cow ex the dairy. This was exemplified at the Hawera sale on Thurs-;

day, when a good entry of fat cows came forward, prime Holstein making from £5 to £5 13s, while the best of the Jersey sorts made from £3 12s 6d to £4 ss, heavy works cows £2 10s to £3 ss, while a line of fat Polled Angus cows changed hands at from £5 4s to £5 7s. Quotations for sale through the medium of private treaty range as follow: Heifers of the Polled Angus and Hereford breed •*£6 to £6 10s, cows of similar breed £5 [ss to £5 10s. l ; Fortnightly sales have drawn extraordinarily heavy yardings of reject cows, which have been supplemented by fair entries of weaner Jersey heifers. At Stony River sale on Tuesday, from which some, idea ,of current values can be obtained, there was an entry of some 500 head, of reject cows and, although prices showed’ a-slight receding on late rates, practically a total clearance was effected under the hammer. Fat Shorthorn-Hol-stein cows made from £4 to £4 16s, fat Jersey sorts £3 6s to £3 Bs, heavy works cows.£2 10s to £2 19s, meaty sorts £1 15s to £2 4s, good-framed boners 25s to 30s, others ,17s to 225. The small entry of weaner Jersey heifers met little support. Average cattle made from 17s to 20s, while hold-overs and lesser-bred sorts made from 10s to 14s.

At the Tarata sale on Friday of last week a good entry of cattle came forward and a satisfactory sale resulted. The entry of sheep was keenly competed for, Sound-mouth ewes mated to blackface rams making to 235, average wether lambs 12s' 6d, store wethers 18s 4d, small mixed-sex lambs 12s 6d, weaner Jersey heifers of average quality 18s to 22s 6d, crossbred and inferior 13s to 15s, 2-year empty Jersey heifers 25s to 30s, fat Hereford cows and heifers £5 to £5 2s, fat Holstein cows £4 to £4 2s 6d, 20-months empty Polled-Angus heifers, light in condition, £2 18s, meaty works cows £2 3s to £2 ss, good boners £1 17s to £1 10s, others 14s to 235. A large entry of Jersey and Jersey-cross in-calf heifers was handled but the quality and size left a little to be desired, and they were somewhat dull of sale. Weedy sorts made from £2 to £2 ss.

In the pig section a little freer market is in evidence than is usual with the approach of winter. Well-bred weaners have increased in favour a little, as also have the slip classes, but at the New Plymouth haymarket sale on Friday the larger class of pig did not meet with as free a sale as was the order at the preceding sale. At this fixture, good weaners from 8s 6d to 9s 6d, average 7s to 7s 6d, small 4s, good slips 15s to 17s 6d, others 11s 6d to 13s 6d, light porkers 25s to 265, good conditioned stores 20s to 225, smaller ’ sorts 18s to 19s. FAT CATTLE IN DEMAND COMPETITION FOR STORE SHEEP. WEANER HEIFERS DISAPPOINTING. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Ltd. reports that the position in the fat sheep section of the market- is practically on a level with last week’s activities. Ewes are being firmly held, and vendors are hard on their limits. The supply of fat ewes is not large," and when this is exhausted wethers will come in for their share of attention. Wethers at present are not in great demand. The supply of fat lambs is. nearly; exhausted, and buyers are now busy cleaning up the last of the dairy farmers’ lots. ... Fat cattle values have firmed a little, following a very strong demand, and the firm cannot, see any weakening taking place. Supplies are not very extensive. and .are, being firmly held, so that butchers are adopting a cautious policy, and .are operating accordingly. A fail.-, number of fat. cows are now coming forward from the dairies and these are realising good prices.Very few store sheep of any kind are now being yarded, although prices for all-classes are good. Store and forward laip-bs arein.good demand, and are eagerly competed for at the sales. Ewe lambs in particular are wanted, but quotations are scarce. There is also a good -inquiry for in-lamb ewes, but here again very few are being quoted. Store and forward wethers are also scarce, with a good, inquiry. Forward conditioned steers and cows of good colours are in good demand, and are celling readily at. firmer. values. Boner and cull cows ex the dairies are now being-yarded in large numbers, and the' works’ buyers are operating very freely at quite a good schedule. The number of cull and boner cows going out this season is very large. ~ Wedner heifers have hardened a little in value, chiefly because there are not a great number left for sale. Prices obtained se far this season have been very disappointing, and are not much encouragement.for farmers to rear their calves.

Considerable activity has been seen in the dairy heifer section lately, and large numbers of heifers have changed hands. Local demand has been only fair, buying being chiefly confined to. outside operators, for forward delivery. There has also been a sharp move in dairy cows lately, and quite a number of herds have been sold for forward deliv-' ery at prices that should be in. the buyer’s favour.

Pigs are selling readily at a little better prices than last week. Chief interest is in the weaners, small stores suitable for wintering. Porkers are not so .plentiful, but are still keenly competed for.

At the Douglas sale there was a fair yarding, with good competition. Prices realised were: Fat cows £2 10s to £4 10s, forward cows 35s to £2, store cows £1 to 30s, bulls £2 10s to £3 10s. At the Stratford sale there was a fair yarding with good competition. Fat cows made from £2 10s to £3, forward cows 35s to £2, store cows to 32s 6d, weaner heifers to £l.'

At the Hawera sale there was a good yarding and good competition. Weaner pigs made to 10s, small stores to 13s 6d, porkers to 25s 6d, forward b.f. lambs to 15s Id, f.m. in-lamb ewes to 12s 6d, fat lambs 19s 6d, fat ewes 19s 6d, fat cows £3 5s to £4 ss, fat Jersey heifers to £3 10s, forward cows £2 to £2 15s, store cows £1 to 3js, bulls to £3 15s. • Private sales include: Dairy herds to £6, in-calf heifers £3 15s to £5, weaner heifers to 355, fat ewes to 19s 6d, ewe lambs to 18s 6d, two-y Oar draught horses to £35,. vealers 35s to £2 15s. BUOYANT TONE FAT CATTLE VALUES’ FIRMNESS. KEEN DEMAND FOR STORE SHEEP. ■ Tire Farmers’ Co-operative Organisation Society of New Zealand Ltd., in its Weekly review of the stock markets, state that a buoyant tone has existed in mo-’ markets throughout the week. The weather for the most part has been cold with the result that the grass which has been growing so fast of late has received a setback. Dairy markets have continued firm throughout the week and indications are that the season, now drawing to a close, will pan out better than was anticipated earlier in the season. To-day s values of 78s for butter and 43s to 45s for cheese are on a firm market. Values for all classes of fat stock remain firm on those ruling in the last report. Sales of fat ewes have been effected in truck lots from 18s to 19s, with extra heavy sheep at 20s. Few sales have resulted at the latter figure, however. Fat wethers are beginning to find £-•cur with butchers at from 23s 6d to 24s 6d, sales during the week being frequent. Values of all classes of fat . cattle

remai.. firm on last week, few sales other than per medium of the yards, where large numbers of good fat cows ex dairy find lavour, being transacted. Best prime fat cows have changed hands at £5 10s to £6, and best prime fat heifers at £6 to £6 ss. The demand for all classes of store sheep remains very keen with quotations difficult to procure. Ewe hoggets are keenly sought after, sales including a line of 250 at 20s, with values ranging from 16s to 20s for top sheep. Wether hoggets at from 13s to 14s 6d find favand here again quotations are limited. In-lamb ewes are difficult to procure, sales including 300 good five-year ewes to S.D. rams at 255. Inquiry for storu cattle during the w.ek has been limited to young station cattle, good calves being keenly sought after with local -alues on perhaps a lower basis than those ruling outside. Jersey calves continue to find x spasmodic inquiry from 30s to £2 for top cattle. The inquiry for dairy heifers during the week has been purely local, sales including 50 two-year heifers at £3 15s and numerous trucks of two and threeyear heifers at from £4 to £5, threeyear heifers continuing to find favour. Sales at all centres have been well supported. The Inglewood sale on Wednesday drew a capacity yarding in all sections, a good sale resulting. A yarding of 150 dairy heifers met a ready sale at from £3 to £4 10s, cattle showing size and quality being keenly competed for, resulting in a clearance of over 100 head. A large yarding of calves met a ready sale at from 25s for hold-over cattle to 32s 6d for top cattle. A full yarding of store cattle was" keenly competed for, fat cattle at £3 to £4 10s, forward cows £2 to £3 10s, stores 25s to 355. In the sheep ewes in lamb to S.D. ram changed hands at 17s 6d to 19s 6d, and wether lambs at from 14s to 14s 6d. At the Waverley sale a medium yarding of all classes of cattle and a small yarding of sheep came forward, a total clearance being effected at satisfactory prices. Store cows realised £l, 245, 265, 34s to 375, paddock cows £2, £2 5s to £2 16s, fat cows and'bullocks £3 Is, £3 7s, £3 15s, £4 4s to £4 12s, a pen of wether hoggets changing hands at 14s 6d, and weaner pigs at 4s 6d to 5s and a pen of 40 P.A. weanei steers at £2 16s. At the Stony River sale on Tuesday a very large yarding of cattle came forward and a total clearance under the hammer was effected at satisfactory prices. Realisations were: Fat cows to £3 17s, lighter sorts to £2 16s, paddock cows to £2, works cows to 31s, boners to 16s, m.t. heifers to £1 15s.