Sheepmeat and wool survey results: More ewes, lambs
There are 35-per-cent more lambs on Aussie farms, according to a far-reaching new survey. Get the lowdown on the national flock.
There has been a significant jump in lamb numbers nationally, according to the latest Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation sheepmeat and wool survey.
The results show as at June 30 this year, there were 41.6 million breeding ewes in Australia — up 1 per cent or 400,000 on last year’s levels.
There were also more lambs on hand, up 35 per cent to 19.7 million head.
And while most states experienced growth, South Australia and Victoria both had fewer ewes on farms.
The survey, completed three times a year, had more than 1700 respondents and provides MLA and AWI with an accurate representation of flock population, demographics, sheep meat and wool supply information and producer production intentions during key production periods.
MLA market information manager Stephen Bignell said the numbers underpin that the flock rebuild is continuing.
“The big jump in lambs on hand shows the rebuild is still underway and the cohort of lambs in 2020 was bigger than we thought and in 2021 it means producers are able to not only sell more lambs but also retain more (because they have more numbers in total),” Mr Bignell said.
The increase in lamb numbers is expected to flow onto higher lamb sales, which are forecast to hit 7.2 million head over the next four months, a rise of 33 per cent on last year’s levels.
Mr Bignell said impressively, the increase in lambs on hand has been achieved through higher marking rates, but with fewer ewes joined — in June this year, 1 per cent more lambs were marked from 6 per cent fewer ewes joined.
This was possible as marking rates increased 6 per cent to 101 per cent across all breeds.
The survey also asked questions around producer intentions and found 92 per cent of producers nationally are going to either increase or maintain their flocks over the next 12 months.
“The numbers show the flock rebuild will continue into next year,” Mr Bignell said.
The intended method for achieving the ewe flock increase was 41 per cent intend to retain more older ewes than normal, 63 per cent intend to retain more replacement ewes than normal and 30 per cent plan to purchase more additional ewes than normal.
The survey also asked questions about grain feeding lambs, as there has been anecdotes of more grain-finished lambs out of Victoria going into saleyards in recent months.
Mr Bignell said nationally lambs that spent 35 days on grain was at 17 per cent, down from 26 per cent last year.
The numbers in Victoria had increased from 16 per cent to 18 per cent, while in Western Australia it had fallen from 35 per cent to 12 per cent of lambs on grain.
“Western Australia has had a ripper season and while the Victorian number is fairly stable, that does back up that more Victorian lambs are coming off grain.”
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