Jack and Kylie Stewart-Moore had plenty of reasons to celebrate when their steers sold on AuctionsPlus last Friday.
The couple, who operate Telemon Droughtmasters at Dunluce near Hughenden, listed a line of purebred Droughtmasters with an average weight of 415 kilograms that sold for 346c/kg, returning $1436/head.
The majority of these steers were home-bred steers, with the balance being bred by Lazy A Droughtmasters at Julia Creek, which had been purchased as weaners.
"They were a great line of little weaners we bought from Alex Power and they are a similar match with ours," Mr Stewart-Moore said.
These cattle stayed in the north and were bought by a feedlotter.
The Stewart-Moores also listed a line of Brangus/Brahman/Droughtmaster-cross steers with an average weight of 336 kilograms, which sold for 353c/kg to return $1183.
Those steers were a line of weaners bought from the Central Queensland Livestock Exchange, Gracemere, between June to September last year.
They sold to a buyer in Warren, NSW, who runs a backgrounding operation.
Mr Stewart-Moore said overall they were happy with the sale results as the steers made a little more than they expected.
He said they regularly trade cattle and had been watching the market closely over the past few weeks.
"Next we will draft up a line of four decks of home-bred heifers and offer through AuctionsPlus as replacement females for the commercial herd," he said.
Mr Stewart-Moore said he was shortening his joining period this year to 60 days instead of 90 days.
"I am applying some pressure to the females to watch and gauge their overall breeding performance," he said
Richmond-based livestock agent Ashley Naclerio, from Stockplace Marketing, who listed the Stewart-Moore's cattle on AuctionsPlus, said although the season was patchy in the north west, Dunluce was enjoying a great season.
AuctionsPlus reported that Queensland cattle listings remained firm last week with 4491 head offered.