Weekly Sheep & Lamb Comments - Week ending Friday 29th September

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings lifted to over 50,000 for the first time since June to total 54,506 head offered. Clearance also lifted, increasing by 12 percentage points to finish the week at 54%, while value over reserve averaged $8 above set reserves.

The market was mixed this week with NSM sheep seeing mainly falls, while lamb categories registered some green ink and some strong clearance rates. Lamb offerings increased 28% to see 31,972 head offered and of which 29,540 head were new season lambs which sold to strong demand.

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

Crossbred lambs surged 60% this week, with the 15,953 head offered seeing strong demand at 76% while prices were flat on last week at $53/head. From Padthaway, SA a line of 920 May/June ’23 drop Wether lambs made up of 2 even lots weighing 37.7kg sold to separate buyers in Horsham, VIC and Wolseley, SA and each made $64/head, or 170c/kg lwt.

First cross ewe lambs rose $10 this week to average $81/head for the 10,423 head on offer. Purchases were a bit more selective on first cross lines with clearance sitting at the lowest for the lamb categories at 45%. From Trangie, NSW a line of 420 Apr/May ’23 drop Border Leicester/Merino ewe lambs weighing 51kg returned $101/head, or 407c/kg lwt.

Merino ewe hogget supply increased by 45% this week to total 8,138 head, which resulted in prices falling by $28 to average $68/head and a 35% clearance.

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 29th September 2023

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices

AuctionsPlus Interactive Sheep Market Report