AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings fell 15% this week to 83,613 head. The smaller offering had a clearance rate of 50%, which was 9 percentage points lower than the previous week. Across all listings a Price Over Reserve of $6/head was recorded and this continued to rise throughout the day.
Prices were mixed, with the crossbred lamb indicator falling 16% to $98/head and the restocker ARLI indicator climbing 9c to average 548c/kg lwt. For joined ewes a premium for certainty was paid with SIL Merinos lifting $42 and averaging $178/head while SM Merino Ewes fell dramatically to $87 to average $56. However, breed was a greater determinant for price than pregnancy risk, with SM Shedding Breed Ewes the standout this week, lifting $46/head to $170, just $8 behind SIL Merino Ewes and ahead of SIL First X Ewes.
Listings picked up in VIC and TAS, dropped in QLD, NSW and SA and held steady in WA. Queensland listings fell to 13,511. Listings fell by 67% for sheep to 1,963 and 32% for joined ewes to 14,117, but lifted 130% for rams. South Australian buyers purchased 5,448 less head this week, securing 4,634 head, while Tasmanian buyers picked up 352 head more than last week, when no purchases were made. One processor was active in the AuctionsPlus marketplace this week, picking up 2107 head across 6 lots of Merino wether lambs, Composite/Other Breed Ewes and Merino ewes.
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard
Crossbred lamb listings were back 4% from last week to total 19,440 head, with prices back $19/head on last week to average $98/head for an 36% clearance. From Euroa, VIC a line of 230 White Suffolk/Merino mixed-sex June '22 lambs weighing 42.40kg lwt returned $140/head, or 330c/kg.
Merino wether lambs registered a smaller offering with 8,619 head, with prices holding firm to rise just $1/head on last week to average $68/head for a 46% clearance. From The Marra, NSW a line of 475 July ’22 drop Merino wethers weighing 44.4kg lwt returned $121/head, which was $31 over reserve.
Prices in the Not Station Mated (NSM) category enjoyed a mild uptick in prices across the board, with head counts dropping in all categories except for Composite/Other Breed Ewes, which recorded an 85% jump in head count. From Cooma, NSW a line of 160 Merino ewes aged 2.5-2.6 years and weighing 59kg returned $252/head, or 429c/kg lwt.
Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 22nd February 2024