The new season lamb market is off and away, with a significantly larger offering hitting AuctionsPlus this week enjoying steady pricing and a 94% clearance.
There were 37,195 new season lambs offered, up from 24,325 last week - with the category making up 82% of the total yarding. That brings this month's new season lamb total to 99,597, more than half of which are crossbred lambs.
New season lambs achieved a 94% clearance rate, up from 77% last week.
The average price fell just shy of last week's $117/head to average $116/head this week.
In the same week last year just 14,992 head of new season lambs were offered on AuctionsPlus, representing 44% of the weekly offering, with a clearance rate of 63%.
At that time the prices across the sheep and lamb market had nose-dived, so many producers held on to lambs, preferring to grow them out rather than take the prices that were on offer at the time.
As demonstrated in the above graph, the offering of new season lambs on AuctionsPlus this month was significantly higher than last year, but not as high as in 2021.
AuctionsPlus General Manager – Network, Paul Holm, said this week’s strong results could be attributed to the recovery of confidence in the market and lambs being priced to sell.
“There are places where there is positivity in the market, there’s some forward contracts that aren’t that far away with a pretty good rate on them,” Mr Holm said.
He also said that AuctionsPlus was meeting a need in the market to match up those producers who were ready to sell suckers because seasonal conditions weren’t favourable in their area, and those in other regions who had experienced a great season and were keen to take on more mouths.
BR & C Agents’ John Sawyer reported that the Swan Hill area was on a “knife's edge” with the seasonal conditions, but there were smiles all round this week for his clients selling suckers on AuctionsPlus.
“We finished them last year and these suckers made more than them,” Mr Sawyer said.
“There was a lot of competition from up north, who are obviously having a great season.
“These lambs do perform very well – good luck to them and I hope them do well.”
He said there would be more lines of suckers coming out of the area in coming weeks.
For some it would be a little bit earlier than normal, with producers making the decision to move them on while there’s demand and while they’re good and fresh and as seasonal conditions declined.
“The lamb job looks quite positive – buy a few good lambs, good lambs are going to be scarce enough,” he said.
Geoff McDougall, Nutrien Hay, NSW, reported: “The Riverina is on the go now.”
“There’s a lot of confidence back in market. The demand is mainly from the north – we sold all the way to Tamworth,” he said.
“It was interesting that people want weight in them so they can send them over the hooks by December.”
He said the eastern side of Hay was “very very good” but the western side was starting to dry.
“It suits the Hay model, it’s better if they can sell straight off mum or just weaned,” he said.
Mr McDougall said prices were better than he had expected – “our crosses all made better than $4/kg and Merinos $3-3.20/kg”.
He said the lambs were just as good as last year, but the difference was confidence.
Most of his clients held on to last year’s lambs and he said some had only just finished hooking them in July.
He was pleased to see the market offering return to similar levels of 2020, 2021 and 2022.
AuctionsPlus' Natasha Lobban in conversation with Thomas Foods International's Jack Thomas at LambEx 2024.
Meanwhile, at Leeton, Breed & Hutchinson agent Gavin Halden, bought five lines of suckers on AuctionsPlus this week for an irrigation client who is looking for larger parcels of lambs.
“The market went very well, there’s fair demand for lambs for restockers at the moment,” Mr Halden said.
“In parts of the Riverina, on the back of a pretty good season, we’re trying to take advantage of feed.
“He grows a lot of irrigated pastures, so from now until December is his peak period of that pasture growth, just trying to get as many mouths while we can.”
The lambs will be finished on pasture and likely sold to a grass-fed quality assured program. The tail ends will be put into the producer’s feedlot to finish, to make way for the start of their summer cropping regime.
Two Tuesdays ago he purchased another four lots for the same client, but wasn’t able to participate in last week’s sale because what was on offer didn’t meet his requirements.
Mr Halden implored assessors to keep tight weight ranges on lots, so that those chasing particular attributes could participate in the market.
In his case, he didn’t want any light suckers in the mix.
“We only have 10 weeks to get em up to 35kg and up,” he said.
“We’d like to have them now, but if I can get them over the next two weeks we will be happy.
“I’ve got confidence in the market, it will stay where it is or get a bit stronger.
“I was a bit nervous on Tuesday, with the bidding competition – it was the dearest I’d seen it this season.
“We’re just trying to market a few lambs while we’ve got the feed – make hay while the sun is shining.”
