The Australia Day long weekend crimped sheep and lamb sales as expected, leading to a reduced offering of 77,456 head, down 14% on last week. Clearance dropped, though remained a healthy 78%, while prices were mixed. The crossbred lamb indicator added 6% on last week's settled sales, although the AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb Indicator lost 5c/kg carcase weight. The ARLI is just 5% down on this time last year.
Restockers remained very active in the market, pushing the price of scanned-in-lamb Merino ewes up $50 a head for a 96% clearance. They snapped up all the limited number of station mated ewes on offer, bidding $31 a head more than last week's average. It was more of a mixed bag for lambs, with crossbred lambs up $6 a head, but down on clearance; Merino wethers were flat in terms of price but were almost fully sold. First cross ewe lambs were down on price and middling in terms of clearance.
Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Sheep and Lamb Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard
Crossbred lambs registered a smaller offering with 21,883, down 28%, with prices increasing on last week to average $114/head — up $6 for a 76% clearance. From Wallendbeen, NSW, a line of 310 Poll Dorset/Merino mixed sex May/Jul '23 drop and weighing 33kg lwt returned $116/head, or 356c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Bungendore, NSW.
Merino Wether Lambs registered a 28% smaller offering of 10,675 head, with prices staying essentially flat on last week to average $67/head. Demand was strong with a very healthy 92% clearance. Two lines of Merino wethers, numbering 260 and 270 head, from Mooralla, VIC, returned 311c/kg and 328c/kg and will travel to the same buyer in Jeparit, VIC.
Scanned-in-lamb Merino ewes were in hot demand, even with a near tripling of articles on offer to 2,312 head. Prices leapt $50 a head over last week's average to hit $162/head, but that didn't deter buyers who purchased 96% of the stock on offer, with full clearance expected in after-market sales. From Hay, NSW, a line of 238 Merino ewes aged 18 to 20 months and weighing 54kg returned $225/head, or 414c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Deniliquin, NSW.
Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 19th January 2024
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