Following on from the feedback received from last week’s cattle reserve price article, a review of the final sale price against pre-auction reserve levels for AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb sales shows highs are still being maintained into 2022.
While recent weeks prices and clearance rates have been subdued immediately following the auctions, the average final sale price over reserve secured by sold lots has been $19.43/head so far in 2022. This is an increase of 80% from the drought influenced returns of 2019 (Figure 1), when the average value over reserve was $10.77/head. The full year average for 2021 was $19.96/head. The average price is taken across all sheep and lamb categories, including all breeds, to give a general overall picture of the sheep and lamb market.
The average reserve price in AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb sales sits at $211.83/head so far in 2022.
Selective buying has been observed in both the commercial sheep and lamb in 2022. The slowing pace of the flock rebuild, along with frustrating slow lamb finishing conditions, has contributed to buyers taking more care in their buying decisions. As flock numbers expanded, producer focus has turned from increasing absolute numbers at any price, as was the case following the immediate breaking of the drought in 2020, to ensuring the genetic quality of their flock and offspring going forward.