Weekly Sheep & Lamb Comments - Week ending Friday 26th April

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings fell 8% to 52,823 head this week. Thursday's sheep sale was cancelled due to the ANZAC Day public holiday, which accounted for some of the smaller offering. The clearance rate rose two percentage points to 52%, while the Price Over Reserve increased by $2 to average $9 across all listings. 

Crossbred Lamb prices fell by 4% this week, with the crossbred lamb indicator moving from $106/head to $102/head. The AuctionsPlus restocker indicator (ARLI) lifted 27c/kg to 589c/kg. Lamb prices were mixed across different categories with Merino Wether Lamb prices lifting by $43 to reach $87/head across a 225% larger offering of 2,572 head.

Prices were also mixed across joined ewes with SIL Shedding Breed Ewes shedding $73/head to average $92 and SM Composite/Other Breed Ewes lifting $54/head to $149. 

NSW producers offered nearly 9,000 less head than the previous week, but remained the highest contributor to the offering with 26,530 head. Victorian producers offered an additional 6,901 head, up to 15,453 this week. South Australian purchases more than halved to 3,298, while Victorian purchases more than doubled to 8,021.

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard

Crossbred Lambs registered a smaller offering with 9,154 head, with prices decreasing by $4 on last week to average $102/head for a 65% clearance rate. From Taralga, NSW a line of 330 Poll Dorset/Border Leicester/Merino mixed sexed Jun/Jul '23 drop, and weighing 45kg lwt, returned $142.5/head, or 319c/kg, and will travel to a buyer in Forbes, NSW.

Merino Wether Lambs registered an increased offering of 2,572 head, a 225% increase on last week, with prices almost doubling to average $87/head, an increase of $43 for a 51% clearance. From Menindee, a line of 715 Poll Merino Wethers, Aug/Sep '23 drop and weighing 41kg lwt, returned $91/head, or 222c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Loxton, SA.

SIL Merino Ewes registered a larger offering with 6,726 head, with prices increasing by $19 on last week to average $118/head for a 37% clearance. 

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 25th April 2024