Weekly Sheep & Lamb Comments - Week ending Friday 8th September

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings decreased 2% this week, with 35,082 head offered. Clearance slipped to 50% this week and value over reserve was down to $6 above set reserves. Lamb listings made up 67% of the total offering as new season lambs accounted for 15,447 head. The new season lamb offering was met with better demand resulting in a 64% clearance and averaged $6 over reserve.

There was a clear shift of lambs heading south with the majority of lambs listed in central and western NSW while the majority of purchases were from buyers in western Victoria.

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

Crossbred Lamb listings jumped back up 46% this week with 8,932 head. Prices were flat to average $59/head for a 48% clearance. From Carrathool, NSW a line of 680 May/Jun '23 drop White Suffolk/Merino mixed sex suckers weighing 29kg returned $58/head, or 199c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Swan hill, VIC.

Merino Wether Lamb listings dropped back 8% this week with 11,285 head. Prices ranged from $24 - $57 and averaged $37/head – down $5 from last week for a 68% clearance. From Nyngan, NSW a line of 620 Apr/May '23 drop Merino/Merino wethers weighing 37kg returned $43/head, or 115c/kg lwt.

Selective buying was present throughout the sheep market, with Merino ewe hoggets seeing a 48% clearance and prices falling back to $95/head – down $88. From Harden, NSW a line of 410 Merino/Merino ewes aged 12 to 13 months old and weighing 46kg returned $95/head, or 209c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Weering, VIC.

First X Ewes registered a larger offering with 3,896 head, with prices averaging $116/head for a 34% clearance. From Wellington, NSW three even lines of 205 Border Leicester/Merino ewes aged 12 to 13 months old and weighing 61kg returned $130/head, or 212c/kg cwt.

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 7th September 2023

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices

AuctionsPlus Interactive Sheep Market Report