Weekly Sheep & Lamb Comments - Week ending Friday 23rd August

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings fell 4% this week, with a total of 32,015 head offered. New season lambs made up 76% of the offering.

The clearance rate lifted 1 percentage points to finish the week at 74%, which was driven by demand for cross lambs which cleared 84%, while the sheep categories had 100% clearance rates.

The crossbred lamb indicator rebounded 4% to $118/head and the AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb indicator lifted a further 75c/kg to average 766c/kg dressed.

The value over reserve averaged $8/head over set reserves, lifting $1 from last week. Lots that sold during the auction averaged $11/head above reserve, but the figure dropped during post-auction transactions.

The new season lamb offering lifted again this week, with 24,325 head up from 20,387 last week. This category made up 76% of the total yarding. The new season lamb clearance rate lifted three percentage points to 77% clearance rate, and the average price also lifted to $117/head from $109/head last week.

Listings and purchases decreased significantly in Queensland but lifted in New South Wales. 

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

Crossbred lambs registered 20,591 head, an increase of 21% compared to last week. The larger supply was met with a $5/head increase to prices for the category, averaging $118/head. From Oxley, NSW, a line of 640 White Suffolk/Merino mixed sex, April/May drop, and weighing 35kg lwt, returned $140/head, or 397c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Wagga Wagga, NSW.

First cross ewe lambs dropped an average of $31/head to $154/head after lifting $48/ head last week. The clearance rate dropped also dropped 31%. From Coonamble, NSW, a line of 200 Border Leicester/Merino ewes, April/May drop and weighing 30kg lwt, returned $160/head, or 526c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Gumble, NSW.

Not Station Mated Shedding Breed Ewes averaged $195/head, a rise of $59/head, for the 277 head on offer. 

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, August 23rd, 2024.

READ MORE: This week's cattle market results