AuctionsPlus sheep and lamb offering this week increased for the second consecutive week, with numbers rising by 2%, to total 114,152 head. A gradually increasing supply of new season lambs represented 63% of the total catalogue this week, which had averages trend downward across five of the six lamb categories. Merino categories across the offering all registered lower averages this week. Central West NSW was the top listing region with 24,764 head, followed by the Riverina NSW, with 14,564 head offered.
Crossbred lambs sold from $110 to $196, to average $163/head - back $1 from last week. Clearance rates remained strong but softened from last week, at 89% of lines sold. The category offered a total of 24,947 head – 22% of the total catalogue with Central West NSW offering 6,194 head.
Merino wether lambs totalled 28,406 head this week, with the category averaging $5 cheaper at $140/head. Prices ranged from $93 to $176/head, with the NSW Riverina offering 7,087 head in the category. The top price of $176/head consisted of a line of Poll Merino store wether lambs from the Riverina NSW, which were Apr 21’ drop and weighed an average 40.8kg liveweight.
First cross ewe lambs had a total offering of 9,188 head this week, with the category averaging $12 higher, at $312/head. Clearance rates also increased from last week, with robust demand facilitating 89% of the offering selling at auction.
Merino ewe hoggets sold from $210 to $392, to average $291/head – back $5 from last week. The category offered a total of 11,395 head - 32% lower than last weeks offering, with demand for the category also slowing as clearance rates slipped to 68%.
NSM first cross ewes averaged $343/head this week – a $39 increase from last week with the category offering 5,887 head. Across the NSM categories, first cross ewes had the highest clearance rate, at 75%. The top price of $427/head from Central West NSW consisted of two lines of 12-13-month-old ewes totalling 396 head, which weighed an average of 69.8kg liveweight.
Another impressive record was broken this week, with a line of Australian White ewes and lambs selling for $2,145/head - knocking the previous record of $1,276/head out of the park. Offered by “Tattykeel” the lot consisted of 15 NSM ewes and 20 lambs at foot. The 12-13-month-old ewes weigh 66.1kg liveweight, with the lambs weighing 15kg.
NOTE: Prices as at 5pm, Thursday 23rd September, 2021