WEATHER-BEATEN farmers are starting to smile again as rain continues to fall and cattle prices reach record figures.
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They say fortune favours the brave and local farmers are proving as such.
This year is shaping up to be a solid year for producers with saleyards in Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Armidale and Tamworth buoyed by record cattle prices.
On January 19, numbers at the Tenterfield saleyard increased by 232 head on the back of the strong market.
Cows reached record levels for Tenterfield topping at 217.2 cents for the heavier animals while steer prices drastically increased.
“It’s industry wide, no doubt,” stock agent Glen Curry said.
“As with anywhere else rates are exceptionally attractive at the moment and that is the driving force.
“We’ve seen big numbers in the past week and it’s been driven by the attraction of the money being offered,” Mr Curry said.
Tenterfield has welcomed 52mm of rain in January on top of 270mm in December and Glen says that has helped turn the market around.
But producers are still feeling the lasting effects of drought conditions that have lingered for the last few years.
“There is a feeling going forward with the market that calf numbers in the district will be down and lighter.
“Some cattle have been sold in dry times that farmers wouldn’t have usually sold – you don’t have to go too far west to see it could dry up again.
“How long the numbers hold, I don’t know,” he said.
Weaner steers in the New England district reached well above $3 kilogram live weight last week.
Four hundred kilogram feeder steers made $2.60/kg in Tenterfield while a pen of Angus weaners, under 200kg, sold at $3.15/kg at last week's Armidale sale.
For the meantime Glen said it was perfectly placed for producers to ride the wave of strong returns.
“The opportunity to grab any money at the moment is a smart move.”
More to come in our next paper…