Weekly Sheep & Lamb Market Report - Week ending Friday, October 4

AuctionsPlus commercial sheep and lamb listings jumped significantly this week to 109,430 head offered, 64% more than last week's offering.

The clearance rate held up well to the increased yarding, to lift 3 percentage points to finish the week at 69%. The clearance rate at auction was 50% indicating plenty of post-sale transactions took place this week.

The Crossbred Lamb indicator fell 5% from last week to average $124 a head. Meanwhile the AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb indicator lifted 15c/kg above last week's numbers to average 659c/kg dressed.

The value over reserve also lifted $3 to average $7/head over set reserves.

The new season lamb offerings have continued to remain strong, with a total of 74,910 offered this week compared to 48,365 offered last week. 

This category made up 68% of the total yarding and achieved a 76% clearance rate, up from 65% last week. 

Listings were up across NSW, Victoria and South Australia, with NSW offering an extra 21,326 head this week. Interestingly NSW also purchased an additional 16,216 head of sheep compared to last week, showing there is plenty of movement within the state.

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

Crossbred lambs registered 47,779 head, up from 25,396 head last week, with prices decreasing $7/head to average of $124/head. 

From Forbes, NSW, a line of 510 Border Leicester/Merino wethers, Mar/Apr '24 dropand weighing 43kg lwt returned $164/head, or 381c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Condamine, Queensland.

First cross ewe lamb prices fell an dditinl $4/head after dropping $20/head last week, to average $151/head. The clearance rate was 66% in this category.

From Trundle, NSW, a line of 230 Border Leicester/Merino ewes, Mar/Apr '24 drop and weighing 47kg lwt returned $209/head, or 447c/kg and will travel to a buyer in Cootamundra, NSW.

A small offering of shedding breed ewes lifted the average per head price to $96/head to average $216/head. 

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, October 4, 2024.