Restrictions may force spring sales to go online
The rise in coronavirus infections in Victoria prompts the industry to consider conducting all store sheep auctions online.
STORE sheep buyers will need to plug in their computers as hopes for the industry to hold physical auctions this spring have all but been dashed by escalating coronavirus infections.
The big benchmark Merino sales at Hay and Jerilderie in NSW are set to be on AuctionsPlus. And the same fate is all but sealed for the feature spring store sheep sales at Wycheproof and Swan Hill in Victoria.
Travel restrictions, border closures and crowd limits make it all but impossible for the traditional spring scene of thousands of sheep being sold in front of hundreds of people from going ahead.
“Online sales will feature highly this spring as there is a new set of health protocols that the industry has to adapt to,’’ said Elders regional livestock manager Ron Rutledge.
The Weekly Times understands the sheep listed for Hay in September will still be yarded, with bidding conducted on AuctionsPlus, allowing buyers to purchase different runs and lots to make up truck loads, making delivery more efficient and easier in regards to permits and paperwork.
The idea has been floated of having a viewing time, where people that could travel to Hay could inspect the sheep before the online auction.
But with the coronavirus situation shifting daily, such a scenario is dependent on what rules could apply by mid-September.
The feature Jerilderie sales, which follow Hay, would follow a similar system.
The Victorian markets at Swan Hill and Wycheproof are likely to follow a more traditional online formula of the sheep being held on farm until sold.
There hasn’t been a major store sheep auction held in southern Australia since the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year.
It has all been pushed to AuctionsPlus or private transactions, much to the ire of those farmers who pride themselves in their selection of stock based around visual inspection of type, frame and wool.
A sale of $516 for ewes and lambs, as achieved on AuctionsPlus in mid-June, would have made headline news if it had been at a saleyard with cameras clicking.
The record was for 150 rising two-year-old Australian White (Dorper style) ewes that had 195 lambs.
So how have store sheep prices been tracking?
The graph on this page shows the monthly price averages for unjoined crossbred and Merino ewes sold on AuctionsPlus since 2015.
It shows a high price average of $273 for crossbred ewes in June this year, and $210 for Merino ewes set in May.
Also on the graph is the combined financial return of a 24kg prime lamb and a 28kg cull ewe (the yellow and green bars), based on saleyard price indicators.
Store ewe prices have moved higher in recent months as restocking intensified after rain. There is no doubt store ewe prices will come under pressure this spring from cheaper lamb and mutton returns, coupled with farmer uncertainty as to where sheepmeat markets are going to land in this coronavirus pandemic.
Heavy lamb prices are tracking nearly 200c/kg lower than 12 months ago with mutton taking some big hits in the past week to drop below year ago levels.
But the big pressure point could come from the season, with more rain needed across parts of Victoria, NSW and South Australia in order to keep spring feed on track. Irrigation water also remains low.
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