AuctionsPlus’ largest sheep and lamb offering so far in 2021 is scheduled for Tuesday 28th September, as the restraint holding back lambs finally crumbled. The combined 148,097 head scheduled for the National Lamb Sale and National Sheep Sale is 30% above the previous week, and 63% above the corresponding week last year.
With some reports last week of an increased flow of new season lambs starting to impact the physical market, this week’s online catalogue of lambs will be the toughest test yet for a market that has gone from strength-to-strength in recent months. Undoubtably, there will be many buyers who have been patiently awaiting this surge in supplies, and with it, the anticipated seasonal decline in prices.
Another feature of this week’s larger sale is a jump in size of lots being offered. The average lot size last week was 220 head across the two sales, while this week’s average is up 18%, at just below 260 head.
Contextualising the significantly large offering this week, there was only two weeks in 2020 which exceeded this week’s numbers. These included 151,400 head in the final week of November, and 158,561 head in the first week of December (see figure 1). This week’s results have consolidated a much busier September for AuctionsPlus lamb and sheep sales to previous years, with the 593,000 head offered for the month 39% higher than in 2020 (426,053 head) and almost 49% greater than in 2019 (399,971 head).
It should also be noted that one factor that has reportedly influenced some vendor intentions this week is the forecast for some heavy rain across key lamb producing regions from Wednesday onwards. As to whether this week’s surge might also see numbers in the first week of October contract significantly, this week’s results, for both rain and price, will play a large role in numbers offered for next week’s short trading week.
Some of the key lines to watch this week include:
National Lamb Sale – commencing 1pm EST Tuesday, 28th September 2021
Lot 100: 350 Australian White/White Dorper store wether lambs from Aramac, Queensland. The wethers are Jan/Mar ’21 drop and weigh an average of 49kg liveweight.
Lot 252: 700 Merino woolgrower wether lambs from Moulamein, NSW. The unshorn wethers are Jun/Jul ’21 drop and weigh an average of 27.6kgs.
Lot 283: 252 White Suffolk/Merino mixed sex suckers from Eddington, Victoria. The suckers are Jun/Jul ’21 drop and weigh an average of 31.8kg liveweight.
Lot 334: 800 White Suffolk/Composite mixed sex suckers from Kingscote, SA. The suckers are Jun/Jul ’21 drop and weigh an average of 33.3kg liveweight.
Lot 372: 1,047 White Suffolk/Merino future breeder ewe lambs from Muntadgin, WA. The ewes are May/Jul ’21 drop and weigh an average of 40kg liveweight.
National Sheep Sale – commencing 2pm EST Tuesday, 28th September 2021
Lot 403: 1,150 NSM Merino ewes from Stonehenge, Queensland. The rising 6-year-old ewes weigh an average of 48.6kg liveweight.
Lot 461: 260 SM Border Leicester/Merino ewes from Trangie, NSW. The ewes are 13-14 months old and weigh an average of 58.9kg liveweight.
Lot 593: 164 Composite ewes from Princetown, Victoria. The ewes are of Boonerah blood, aged 2 years old and weigh an average of 61.3kg liveweight.
Lot 651: 300 Poll Merino ewe hoggets from Keith, SA, which are aged between 17-18 months and weigh an average of 63.5kg liveweight.