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Lamb finishes on a high for the year

Lamb prices surge on strong demand, but mutton fares poorly as export competition winds down before the holidays.

Strong finish: Processors bumped up demand ahead of the Christmas break, bringing higher prices for lamb.
Strong finish: Processors bumped up demand ahead of the Christmas break, bringing higher prices for lamb.

THE lamb market rolled into the Christmas break on a high, with prices for all weights and grades improving to sit well above last year’s levels.

It was, however, a different story for mutton, with prices continuing to slide as export competition wound back before the holidays.

A strong benchmark rate of 800c/kg carcass weight was recorded at the last two big saleyard auctions for the year.

At Wagga Wagga, in the NSW Riverina, a yarding of 22,500 lambs gained $10 to $14 last Thursday as domestic processors pushed for kill numbers ahead of the Christmas and New Year period, during which regular markets will be cancelled up until January 4.

The National Livestock Reporting Service quoted an average of 806c/kg cwt across the main run of heavy sucker lambs which weighed from 26-30kg and made from $216 to $250.

There were premiums for the nicely weighted domestic lambs, with the 22-24kg sucker lambs averaging $200 at an estimated 828c/kg.

A similar price range was quoted out of Ballarat earlier in the week, where agents yarded about 57,000 lambs in a sale that pushed yarding capacity to its limit.

This sale was also quoted as $5 to $15 dearer, with all the major heavy and trade categories averaging more than 800c/kg, according to NLRS data.

The heaviest export sucker lambs sold to $262, with most of the heavy 24-30kg lambs from $200 to $235.

Those strong sales helped carry the national saleyard indicators for processing lambs to an average of 797c/kg for heavy types (22kg plus), and 806c/kg for trade lambs.

According to historical data, these prices are 35c higher than a week ago and around 100c/kg higher than the same time last year.

As a flow on from this, store lamb competition has continued to trend at high rates.

The main run of traditional sized store lambs, sized from 12-16kg cwt, sold from $120 to $147 at Ballarat to average $136 to the paddock at around 900c/kg on a weight basis.

Bigger-framed store lambs, 16-18kg, sold from $137 to $147 to the paddock.

The mutton market, however, lost ground in the final days of saleyard selling.

At Hamilton on Thursday a yarding of 6700 sheep sold at rates $10 to $15 cheaper again, the NLRS reported.

There were some sheep quoted as $30 lower.

It meant most of ewes and wethers sold below $200 regardless of weight, with the bulk of sales from $120 to $180.

On a carcass basis the national indicator closed on Thursday night at 589c/kg, however there were sales quoted from 520c/kg to 580c/kg at many final markets for this year.

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Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/livestock/store-sheep-sales/lamb-finishes-on-a-high-for-the-year/news-story/734d47b8a51ff46d09ddc22b746fbcea