Sheep and lamb prices drop $20 to $54

Vendors and livestock agents are keeping a close eye on the markets with trade and heavy lambs entering free fall, while mutton prices have held ground.

Lamb prices have started the year in free-fall after buckling under the sheer weight of numbers.

Meat and Livestock Australia’s trade lamb indicator has taken the biggest hit, dropping 104c/kg in a month and 53c/kg in a week and settling at 780c/kg carcass weight on Tuesday. The heavy lamb indicator has followed a similar trend, dropping 101c/kg in a month to settle at 830c/kg.

Mutton has bucked the trend, and the indicator has increased 25c/kg for the month but dropped 19c/kg for the week to settle at 420c/kg, which is still 140c/kg better than this time last year.

Sheep producer Greg Eames from Barnawartha experienced the market drop after selling trade lambs at the last sale of 2024 at Corowa, NSW, and then again on Monday this week.

“I sold at the last sale last year; they were fresh trade lambs off shears (about 22kg), and they made $222,” Mr Eames said.

“I didn’t sell at the first sale at Corowa, but sold on (Monday) and the same lambs, same weight and condition made $187,” he said.

James Kennedy of Elders at Finley. Picture: Jenny Kelly

Elders livestock agent James Kennedy from Finley, NSW, said there hadn’t been many lambs destined to go over the hooks in early 2025.

Mr Kennedy said at the end of last year, there were a lot of orders from processors to fill.

The weight of numbers was evident at the Wagga Wagga, NSW, market when 68,000 sheep and lambs were offered last Thursday.

Prices dropped $20 to $54, with lambs weighing 20kg to 24kg ranging from $148 to $193 to an average of 778c/kg.

Lambs weighing 24-26kg ranged from $190 to $225 and averaged 814c/kg.

AWN Wilks McKean livestock agent Joe Wilks, Wagga Wagga, said trade lambs were hurting the most.

“We are hearing of processors who are booked out for two to four weeks,” he said.

Mr Wilks said grain downgrades after harvest last year also meant farmers had decided to finish lambs and the market was buckling under supply and demand pressure.

He expected the big numbers to continue for quite a while.

Mr Wilks said if there was a silver lining in the market it was mutton. He said prices had only shifted slightly, and there was demand for older sheep.

While trade lamb and heavy lambs took a big hit, he said mutton had only dropped about $15.