As the beginning of summer and the 1st of December looms, the last AuctionsPlus National Sheep and Lamb sales for November are set to have a total of 98,952 head listed online- the lowest weekly offering for the month. La Nina has certainly taken hold across much of the eastern states as weekly offerings of sheep and lambs are back 23% from last week and 38% less than the same week in 2020. Whilst late November is usually renowned for voluminous numbers of new season lambs hitting the market, full rain gauges have left many producers with little option but to hold off selling until paddocks dry up and lambs receive some sunshine on their backs to reignite weight gain.
Whilst wet weather has proved disruptive to the flow of stock onto the market as well as the timing of deliveries, demand is expected to remain robust off the back of increased clearance rates attained across last week, despite overall mixed results across both sheep and lamb categories. As the descent into Christmas begins, larger volumes of lambs flowing onto the market will be anticipated well into December due to disrupted trading opportunities over the past fortnight.
New season lamb listings this week are again driven by the southern states. S.W. Victoria has a total of 26,399 head of lambs listed online- accounting for just shy of 40% of the National Lamb Sale offering this week. Considerable lamb numbers are also flowing out of Kangaroo Island, South Australia with 6,270 head listed online.
The National Lamb Sale commencing at 1pm EDST has a total of 66,971 head catalogued across 196 lots.
Lot 103: From Quilpe, QLD a line of 760 store wether lambs weighing 24kg liveweight with 42mm wool.
Lot 104: From Walcha, NSW a line of 740 12-13-month-old woolgrower wether lambs. The wethers are Yalgoo bloodlines and weigh an average of 48.3kg liveweight with 15.5-micron wool.
Lot 151: A line of 429 Poll Dorset/Coopworth/Merino mixed sex store lambs from Benalla, VIC. The lambs are Jun/July ’21 drop and weigh an average of 39.8kg liveweight.
Lot 262: 640 Polwarth/Highlander and Border Leicester/Merino mixed sex store lambs from Kingscote, SA.
The National Sheep Sale commencing 2pm EDST has a total of 31,981 head listed across 208 lots.
Lot 355: From Quilpie, QLD a line of 470 unmulesed NSM Merino ewes weighing an average of 43.6kg liveweight. The ewes are 14-16 months old and consist of Mumblebone Merino bloodlines.
Lot 371: 217 future breeder Border Leicester/Merino ewe lambs from Mendooran, NSW which weigh an average of 52.5kg. The ewe lambs are Mar/Apr ’21 drop, September shorn and will be offered alongside two other lots as a run out the gate.
Lot 502: From Hamilton, VIC a line of 185 Aug/Sep ’20 drop woolgrower wethers weighing 41.8kg liveweight. The wethers are October shorn and of Kurra Wirra bloodlines.
Lot 538: From Green Patch, SA a line of 190 2-year-old White Dorper ewes with LAF. The ewes weigh an average of 72.2kg liveweight while the 231 lambs are aged 4-9 weeks and weigh an average of 26kg liveweight.
Lot 552: 570 NSM Multi-Purpose Merino ewe hoggets from Perillup, WA. The hoggets weigh an average of 44.6kg liveweight and are November shorn.