Weekly Sheep & Lamb Comments - Week ending Friday 4th August

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings lifted this week to 29,722 head, increasing 19% on last week as it was another tough week for a market that is still trying to find a floor. Total head was the only indicator to register a rise this week, with the crossbred lamb indicator erasing all last week’s gains dropping 19%, while clearance and value over reserve also declined, falling 2 percentage points and $2, respectively.

As illustrated by the drop in the crossbred indicator, the market overall was again weaker, with many categories not selling enough lots for a comparison to be made, and for the ones that did it was two up and four down, as clearance for the categories ranged from 12%-100%, highlighting the selective nature of the current market.

The increased listings this week was attributed largely to two factors, a larger number of lambs offered, and a larger number of head per lot across the board. Lamb numbers increased by 74% to total 13,976 head, while average head offered jumped by 16 to average 246 head per lot.

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Link 2: National Lamb Sale Results
Link 3: Tuesday National Sheep Sale Results
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard

Crossbred lambs were back up this week, with offerings jumping 47% to 5,022 head, while prices took a hit, falling $16 to average $69 for a 46% clearance rate. From Mount Mary, SA a line of 182 Apr/May '23 drop Suffolk/Poll Merino mixed sex lambs weighing 27kg returned $63/head, or 233c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Bordertown, SA.

Merino ewe lambs saw a slight increase in price this week, rising $6 to average $74/head for the 2,283 head that was offered. From Terowie, SA the same vendor had 365 Apr/May 22’ drop Poll Merino ewe lambs, split across two lots. The heavier line, averaging 39kg returned $95 while the 38kg line returned $100/head.

SM shedding breed ewes posted a healthy clearance of 66% for the 1,878 head offered, while prices dropped by $8 to average $124/head. From Nyngan, NSW a line of 20 Australian White 1.5 – 2.6 year old station mated ewes returned the top price at $142/head.

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 3rd August 2023

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices

AuctionsPlus Interactive Sheep Market Report