AUCTIONEERS COMMENT
AUCTIONEERS COMMENT
MARKETS
Shaftesbury and Salisbury
AUCTIONEER
John Bundy (Southern Counties Auctioneers)
WITH the busiest time for trading calves at Shaftesbury and Salisbury approaching, prices look set to ease, says John Bundy.
"Early October will probably see most bull calves changing hands between £85 and £180, with only the best over £200. Continental breeds at the top of the range, Hereford and Angus at the bottom."
Heifers will remain harder to sell. "There is no slaughter scheme to put a base in values, and farmers have been wary of buying them, with finished prices in the doldrums and no prospect of subsidy."
But demand has been surprisingly good over recent months, says Mr Bundy. With the best Continentals often topping £200, values are not that far behind the levels seen before the BSE crisis broke.
"The highest prices usually go to an animal old enough so that buyers can see what its conformation is like – typically about 18 days old."
But Belgian Blues calves have suffered in the face of the export ban. In the absence of this market, upon which they were traditionally heavily dependant, they are now making just under, rather than well over, £200.
And the latest reduction in compensation payments to below £83 for dairy breeds and £105 for beef animals has also had an effect on open market trade.
Changes to the scheme will be needed if beef exports begin again, says Mr Bundy.
"While the Germans will prob-ably never again buy British beef in any great volume, other nationalities – such as the Italians – will. So if we are to satisfy this demand, fewer will then need to be killed between seven and 20 days old."
Any lifting of the export ban, meanwhile, would not automatically herald a resumption of the live export movement, says Mr Bundy.
"Exporters will look at the figures to see if they can make money. And this certainly would not be the case if the scheme continues to put a floor in prices where it currently is."
Store cattle supplies are tight. "When yearlings are offered, they make good money."
Two batches of Friesian steers on green CIDs went through the ring at Shaftesbury recently, making £350 apiece.
"They were born just before the introduction of the calf processing scheme. The alternative to keeping them for rearing was selling them on the open market, probably for about £25."
The better store business has, meanwhile, prompted more heifer marketings, says Mr Bundy. A lot have been retained by farmers who were discouraged by low prices but had plentiful keep supplies.
"If you can make £300 for a yearling heifer, then with no subsidy available, it make sense to sell it now."
And those looking for calves and young animals, meanwhile, will have plenty to choose from later this year, with a series of suckler herd sales planned.
"The autumn and early winter is a good time to hold a dispersal as farmers may be looking for stock to fill their cow quota allocation," he says. *
Calf prices seem set to come under further pressure this autumn.