Peter Grieve, Talooby Angus of Bylong, had 63 head at the Mudgee Saleyards - cows and heifers - and was delighted with the results.

"The sale was exceptional, easily the best we've ever had over that sort of number," he said.

"The whole draft averaged nearly $1,900/hd, with the top pen of six-tooth heifers [pictured] which made $2,177/hd.

"It's a very strong and highly competitive market.

"But I will say that quality always sells at premium in tough times, let alone good times."

Elders Mudgee branch manager, Jason Pearce, added "it was a phenomenal sale, for us to sell 160 cattle and grossing $276,000, is just mind-blowing".

Among that number were Peter and Kate Baker of Cooyal - the former an employee of Elders - who sold a pen of 13 steers for $2022/hd.

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Mr Grieve said that it was noticeable that many sold headed south.

"We were thankful for the support we've received from local and interstate buyers, with all but one head of the cattle going to Victoria," he said.

"The availability of finished cattle in Victoria at the present time was very evident by the number of Victorian operators at the sale."

Social distancing measures during the pandemic in recent months have seen a rise in the number of online sales, but as normality returns Mr Pearce said there's commercial application for both them and their physical counterparts.

"Through COVID we've particularly seen an increase in the usage of online sales, the major platform is AuctionsPlus," he said.

"It really brought it to the fore through the issues created, but the physical auction market will come back into play more and there's always a place for both."

Females were also keenly sought after among the 930 head yarded at Dunedoo store cattle sale recently with first-calver cows with calves at foot making a top of $2650 a unit.

A strong sale with buyers competing from Coonamble, Dubbo, Orange, Forbes, Mudgee, Scone and locally.