Australian Livestock Auction Action Plunges

SYDNEY - Aug 31/07 - SNS -- Livestock sold through online auctions managed by AuctionsPlus Pty Ltd sank during the past week as increased cattle offerings were swamped by decreased lamb and sheep sales.

Throughput for the week totalled 14,040 sheep and lambs, versus 31,805 head during the previous week's auctions, and 6,025 head of cattle, compared to 2,279 last week.

"Cattle throughput (was) bolstered by the collective numbers of the Elders Red Sale. The Red offering was of high quality and saw very good rates for the heavier steers," AuctionsPlus's Dean Lemmich said.

"Throughout both sales today we saw the return of a large price gap between sibling sexes. Heifers in many cases were more than 40.c/kg behind their brothers and for good reason, quite a few were passed in and cows were harder to shift than last week."

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