Lamb Market Steady through April

The AuctionsPlus sheep and lamb market continued its steady path throughout April, with a total of 292,647 head offered for the month. While total supplies were back 27% on the previous month, markets were disrupted through the Easter period, as producers retained potential breeding lines with seasonal conditions remaining very favorable.

As the young cattle market hogged the price headlines through April, the overall return for lamb producers remained favorable, albeit, with some categories falling below the corresponding period in 2020. For the largest single online category, Merino wether lambs, there was an 85% clearance rate for the 60,345 head offered – with the average price for the month up 4% on March, at $146/head. Compared to the same period last year, Merino wether lambs averaged 5% lower.

For the other lamb categories, there was monthly and year-on-year declines registered for crossbreds, first cross ewes and Merino ewe lambs. The 23,887 head of crossbred lambs offered throughout April averaged $165/head – which was back 3% on March 2021 and 8% from April 2020. First cross ewe lambs averaged $240/head for the month, down 6% and 4%, respectively, with only a 53% clearance rate for the 23,833 head offered. Merino ewe lambs averaged $188/head – down 2% on the previous month and 11% year-on-year.

The star performance on the lamb front in April 2021 came from the shedding lamb category, which averaged $309/head – which was up 14% on the previous month and 35% on the same period in 2020. The sharp price increase came even with a 28% jump in total offerings for the month, to 18,544 head – as the popularity of shedding breeds continues to expand, especially as prices for Australian white lambs captured headlines.

Across the ewe categories, the market was largely stronger from March 2021 for the SIL lines, but back for the NSM categories. For the SIL Merino ewe category, with 49,907 head offered for the month, prices averaged $258/head for April, steady from March 2021, but back 7% year-on-year. Similarly, SIL first cross ewes averaged 2% higher in April, at $322/head – but back 10% from April 2020.

The only ewe category to be up both monthly and year-on-year was SM Merino ewes, which averaged $236/head for the 12,856 head presented – up 6% on March 2021 and 3% on April 2020. In contrast, NSM Merino ewes averaged 11% lower in April 2021, at $182/head – with a 62% clearance rate for the 14,564 head offered.

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