Monthly Goat Comments - February 2022

Across the four weekly commercial goat sales held by AuctionsPlus during February, a total of 23,756 head were offered online. Despite monthly numbers slipping back 44% on the back of record offering of goats in January, numbers continued to trend higher online – up 127% year-on-year.

Rangeland bucks and does accounted for 73% of the offering across the month, with prices for both categories remaining robust compared to January. Rangeland bucks were met with strong demand again this month, with the category returning a clearance of 95% across the 4,094 head offered. Prices averaged 544c/kg lwt, or $110/head - up $2 from January. Three lines of 4-6-month-old bucks from Morvern Queensland, totaling 1,887 head and weighing 17.5kg lwt, were purchased by a buyer from Victoria for $103/head, or 588c/kg lwt.

Rangeland does had a total of 10,633 head offered, which sold to an average of 570c/kg lwt, or $131/head - back $3 on the previous month. Clearance rates for the category were unusually subdued in February, back from 75% in January, to only 30% in February - indicative of the differing price point expectations between vendors and buyers. Returning the top price for the category, at $186/head, or 660c/kg lwt, was a line of 365 continuously joined does aged 1-5 years from Cobar, NSW.

Rangeland/Boer does had a total of 1,611 head offered across the month, which returned a 100% clearance, to average $190/head, or 725c/kg lwt. A highlight for the category included a line of 100 Boer/Rangeland does from Cassilis, NSW, aged 6-13 months and weighing 27kg lwt - which returned $265/head, or 967c/kg. Rangeland/Boer bucks also registered a 100% clearance across the offering of 481 head, with the category for the month averaging $238/head, or 721c/kg lwt.

Purebred Boer does registered a total offering of 806 head, which returned a clearance rate of 94%. Prices for the category averaged $236/head – up $81 from January, whereby several high-quality lines were met with fierce demand, as supplies tightened for the category over the month. A line of 70 1-5-year-old continuously joined Boer does from Byrock NSW, returned $376/head or 820c/kg lwt, and headed north to a buyer in St George, Queensland.

Crossbred Kalahari/Boer/Rangeland goats had 955 head listed for the month, which returned a 100% clearance, as the category averaged $120/head. From Mitchell, Queensland, a run of 800 1-2-year-old bucks weighing 34kg lwt, returned $140/head.