Sheep market struggles at Jerilderie

Opinions varied on sheep prices in Jerilderie last week, with recent rain and quality of sheep the talking points. See the latest results.

It was another slow slog for store sheep at Jerilderie in NSW last week.

The yarding sold to a top of $134 for young Merino ewes and $58 for unshorn wether lambs.

Prices were deemed to be soft, although opinions varied on the sale depending on how a person viewed the quality of the 8000 sheep offering.

Some agents told The Weekly Times ewes had “sold alright for what they were” while others judged it a tough enough day with plenty of buying chances.

The sale lacked numbers and depth of quality in the young ewes to really test buyer interest.

And meat processors put a price floor in the Merino wether lamb run, purchasing the fresher conditioned lots for the MK “bag lamb” trade.

There were just a few pens of maiden 2022-drop Merino ewes offered with the best price of $134 achieved by vendor Yooroobla for a pen of June-July drop that were October shorn.

This was followed by $112 for 356 ewes from Lakeside which were June 2022-drop, CentrePlus blood and off an August shearing. The only other pen of 2022-drop Merino ewes were from Woolamie Pastoral and made $100.

Selling action at the Jerildrie sheep sale.

After this it was a mix of older ewes, mostly two to five years, which sold from $30 to $69.

Included in this price range was a big run of Dohne-Merino ewes from Coonong Pastoral. The 1500 were June-July 2021-drop, October shorn, and sold from $80 down to $31.

Local stalwart producer Ross Wills, of Willandra Merinos, Jerilderie, said the market still hadn’t found its mojo.

“It was tough right through and I expected it to be a bit better than the October sale (at Jerilderie) which was like pulling teeth,” Mr Wells said.

“I really did think it might have improved as there is rain in the atmosphere – some parts of the district around here had 30mm last night.”

Willandra sold five-year-old ewes for $66 and unshorn Merino wether lambs for $40.

Meat buyers paid the best price of $58 twice for Merino wether lambs. This was for 400 May-June drop lambs from Ivyholme which were unshorn, and 415 from Willurah.

The wether lambs which went back to the paddock were mostly under $40 with some selling north to Narrandera and to the Albury and Shepparton districts.

John Rudd from Katamatite bought wether lambs at the Jerilderie, NSW, sheep sale.

Among the buyers were John Rudd from Katamatite who paid $37 and $35 for 900 wether lambs, the low price enticing him to break with his usual pattern of purchasing crossbred lambs from the Western District to go onto stubbles.

“These Merino lambs look very cheap to me and I think they are worth taking a chance on,” Mr Judd said.