Lamb prices firm, but mutton has cheapest trading week in two months

Lamb prices are on the up as saleyards start to wind down for the Christmas break and processors scramble for supplies.

Tracking well: Tradeweight lambs were up 16c this week, an increase of 67c from a year ago. Picture: Kate Dowler.

The lamb market has pushed strongly towards Christmas, with prices for all categories firm to dearer in the past week.

With saleyards winding down this week for an extended three-week break due to the way Christmas and New Year dates fall, processors were keen to secure supplies.

Rates for the best sucker and shorn lambs in Victoria pushed above an estimated 760c/kg carcass rate, with numerous sales up around 800c/kg, according to data from the National Livestock Reporting Service.

However it has been a different story for sheep, with competition falling away in one of the cheapest trading weeks recorded for mutton in the past two months.

Price falls of $20-$30 began appearing at saleyards late last week, and followed through to Bendigo on Monday where there was a bigger offering of 10,000.

Exporters told The Weekly Times they weren’t pushing for numbers, with abattoirs not keen to have sheep standing around over the disrupted holiday period which will cancel a number of regular kill shifts.

At the close of selling on Monday night, the major saleyard price indicators for lamb had improved to:

768c/kg cwt for heavy lambs (22kg plus), a rise of 15c in the past seven days and now 42c higher than a year ago;

766c/kg for tradeweight lambs, up 16c and tracking 67 cents better than a year ago;

723c/kg for Merino lambs, just 1c better but 59c higher than a year ago; and

889c/kg for store lambs, up 9c and 116c above the rates of this time last year.

In contrast the mutton indicator had fallen to 613c/kg, marking a correction of 23c in the past week, according to NLRS data.

And the indicator is likely to slip under 600c/kg if the current weaker trend continues, as most sheep sales on Monday were listed below this benchmark.

In dollar a head terms there were only a few extra heavy ewes that reached $200 at Bendigo, with the majority of sheep ranging from $130 to $180.

For lamb the highest price on Monday was $245 for a pen of extra heavy shorn lambs with an estimated carcass weight of around 34kg.

Shorn lambs claimed nearly all the sales above $230 at Bendigo, the NRLS reported, and buyers have shown a strong preference for off-shears stock at many sales in the past week.

The fresher conditioned sucker lambs suiting top end domestic orders were mostly $185 to $210 depending on size.

Hamilton, in the Western District, had the biggest lamb yarding earlier this week, at nearly 32,000.

The main run of heavy trades, 24-26kg, averaged $200 at an estimated 780c/kg, the NLRS reported.

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