By the time the first pen was put up for sale on Thursday 2600 steers, cows and bulls were crammed into the yards and the bidding duels began.

But if the cattle came in their droves the same could not be said of the buyers, possibly caught short by the late rush of numbers.

However, Corcoran Parker’s Dave Meehan said what they lacked for in numbers the buyers more than made up for with enthusiasm.

“It’s actually hard to put a finger on any one reason why we finished up with so many cattle but they still sold very well in a strong market,” Mr Meehan said. “I reckon between Monday and Thursday we doubled the number of entries and they came from everywhere.”

“There were no really big lines – with our 1200-plus we had the bulk of the catalogue and I reckon we had at least 50 vendors in that lot.”

Mr Meehan said there were clearly two markets on the day – lighter cattle and calves were going straight back onto paddocks while anything heavier was headed for the feedlots.

Once again he said in a market where it is hard to source a steer under $1000 demand for lighter cattle was outstanding.

“While we have had a good a run as possible looking around the district you can see the grass is shot,” he added.

“We’ve had a couple of rains but in the next few weeks we will really be looking for something substantial.”

Elders Matt Tinkler also said he expected to see a lot of the lighter cattle again as restockers filled trucks to help fill their paddocks.

He agreed the sale went well and rated the lighter cattle as the feature of the day.

“Anything in that 200-250kg range was in big demand from producers but interest dropped off as weights went up, when the buyers for feedlots stepped in,” he added.

In the heifers seven Herefords going to BP and J Coates made $1160, while the Angus and Angus cross heifers saw a pen of 17 at $1370 and four from Kevin Marriott realise $1400.

A pen of 15 Charolais cross went to Jabell Partnership for $1195 and a lone Simmental realised $1370.

Steer pens of just one and two cattle made it a big ask for buyers to put together any purchase of size and that was reflected in some of the prices, with Friesian and Euro crosses bouncing around between $620 and $1440 – with that high paid for 12 head while another 14 reached $1320.

Even the Angus and Hereford steer pens struggled to reach double numbers in most cases but were much stronger than the Euros.

Most did better than $1000, with five Angus crosses from JL and BJ Williams at the top end with $1305.

Another pen of four heavier black steers hit $1430, as did a lone one in the next pen, all five going to Teys at Charlton. Teys kept picking up odd lots and did not mind digging deep, with $1485 for five Angus cross from Carobobala P/L. High tide for the day was its $1580 for seven black steers from David Westphalen.