Rates up as wet weather disrupts lamb supply

Buyer competition was fierce with numbers reduced at major saleyards. Direct sales also took a battering as trucks were unable to access stock in some regions.

Tight selling: Wet weather has led to smaller yardings for lamb and mutton, with heavier sucker lambs up 50c/kg on a week ago, according to the National Livestock Reporting Service.

RAIN continues to push lamb and sheep prices, disrupting the normal spring flush of stock.

Fewer lambs were available to bidders at all the major saleyards earlier this week due to wet weather, with buyers also telling the The Weekly Times that direct sales had also been hit as trucks were unable to access stock in some regions.

The biggest impact was seen in NSW, where numbers at Dubbo dropped to less than 6500 suckers and just 1700 sheep.

Numbers also reduced at Bendigo and Corowa in southern NSW, although not to the same extent.

There were still 19,000 young lambs and 11,000 sheep at Bendigo, although these numbers are still lower than the past fortnight.

Buyer competition intensified across all weights and grades, led by export competition at Bendigo which pushed heavy lambs $20 dearer than a week ago. Trade and lighter weight lambs were quoted as $8 to $12 dearer.

The National Livestock Reporting Service said the heaviest sucker lambs sized from 30kg to 34kg sold from $235 to a top of $256 to average an estimated 750c/kg, a 50c gain on a week ago.

The heavy trade and best domestic lambs bounced off this base to record averages of 770c/kg to 800c/kg cwt, or $175 to $195 for most suckers.

There were dearer rates of more than 800c/kg reported for some of the best processing lambs sold further north at NSW saleyards on the same day. The price bounce restricted restocking activity, with specialist Ballarat finishers pushed out of the market at Bendigo for tradeweight lambs to shear.

There were still sales of smaller lambs under 20kg cwt to the paddock at $130 to $160, and some of these lightweight lambs were being calculated at high cents per kilogram rates of more than $10 at times.

The mutton market has also rallied amid tight supplies and interstate processors again focusing on Victoria for numbers.

A key sheep buyer at Bendigo this week was Fletchers, of Dubbo, which paid to a top of $265 for a pen of standout heavy Merino ewes that were in full wool.

Most heavy sheep at more than 30kg cwt are making from $185 to $230 a head, with trade and lighter sheep from $125 to $150.

On a carcass basis, good lines of sheep were trending above 600c/kg cwt at Bendigo, with the NLRS reporting averages of 630c to 660c/kg at a number of sales.

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