AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb held steady this week at 53,691 head. The market was mixed with six categories seeing increases, while five experienced declines. Lamb categories registered the bulk of the falls, with three out of the four decreasing.
This can be attributed to the higher influx of lambs into the system, with the 35,879 head a 13% increase on last week. Despite the fluctuations, demand was strong, with clearance increasing 9 percentage points to 63%. This marks the highest weekly clearance rate since the first week of July, when just over 30,000 head were offered.
Processors were active this week, purchasing a total of 6,799 head or 20% of the sold offering. A combination of stock categories was sought, ranging from crossbred lambs, wether lambs to older ewes. New season lambs continue to flood onto the box, albeit in much smaller numbers compared to previous years, with the 35,465 head resulting in a 63% clearance rate.
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard
Crossbred lambs jumped 20% this week, with the 20,146 head offered averaging $52/head, which is firm on last week and clearance finishing at 62%. From Cumnock, NSW a line of 490 Mar/Apr 23’ Border Leicester/Merino mixed sex lambs weighing 34kg sold for $72/head.
Merino wether lambs had a strong week, with offerings doubling to total 6,702 head and prices increasing by $6 to average $49/head. The larger offering did little to dampen buyer activity, with clearance hitting 90%. The top price was returned by 380 Alandale Aug/Sep 22’ drop wether lambs weighing 59kg which returned $101/head.
Merino ewes registered a sharp fall in offerings with the 1,233 head seeing a strong uptick in prices with the category averaging $105/head – up $87 for a 68% clearance rate. From Forbes, NSW a line of 364 2.1 – 2.2 year old ewes averaging 66kg returned the top price of $142 and will travel south of the border to Bendigo, Victoria.
Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 6th October 2023
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
AuctionsPlus Interactive Sheep Market Report