Commercial sheep and lamb listings on AuctionsPlus decreased 36% to 34,679 head this week. The market continues to bump through a series of shorter weeks due to public holidays, restricting the ability to draw clear conclusions on market changes. Clearance rate fell to 45% while value over reserve slipped to $7 this week. The next 2-3 full weeks will be an important period to gauge the direction of the market for the rest of the year.
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Link 2: National Lamb Sale Results
Link 3: National Sheep Sale Results
Link 4: Results by Region
Crossbred lambs registered 4,383 head and averaged $123/head – up $12 on last week for a 73% clearance rate. Per kilogram prices ranged from 298-367c and averaged 325c/kg lwt. From Breakaway Creek, Victoria, a line of 635 Jul/Aug 22’ drop Poll Dorset/Border Leicester/Merino mixed sex store lambs weighing 41kg returned $134/head, or 329c/kg lwt.
Merino wether lambs registered 5,807 head and averaged $78/head – down $4 from last week for a 51% clearance rate. Per kilogram prices ranged from 164-271c and averaged 213c/kg lwt. From Goodooga, NSW, a line of 890 Sep/Oct 22’ drop Merino store wether lambs weighing 36kg returned $75/head, or 211c/kg lwt.
SIL Merino ewes registered 3,948 head and averaged $142/head – down $10 from last week for a 49% clearance rate. From Yacka, SA, a line of 270 Merino ewes SIL to Suffolk rams aged 19-21 months old and weighing 46kg returned $162/head.
SIL Composite/other breed ewes registered 1,364 head and averaged $167/head – down $20 from last week for a 57% clearance rate. From Harrow, Victoria, a line of 250 20-22-month-old Composite ewes SIL to Maternal Composite rams and weighing 67kg returned $170/head.
Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 27th April 2023
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices