Hay store sheep sale: Prices above expectations

Merino lambs sold to $176 at the Hay store sheep sale with prices across all grades $10 to $15 above expectations. Full breakdown here.

Prices across all grades were $10 to $15 above expectations File picture: JAMES WAGSTAFF

Punchy bidding from restockers from multiple grazing areas created a hot priced store lamb sale at Hay in the Riverina today.

First-cross wether lambs sold to $190 and Merino lambs to $176 in a sale that was quoted by selling agents Elders as $10 to $15 per head dearer than expectations.

As the sale was interfaced with AuctionsPlus due to the ongoing travel and border-crossing problems caused by Covid, all the lambs had been assessed and weighed on farm.

On a liveweight basis the most lambs were costing between 450 and 530 cents per kilogram, which when converted to carcass values put the rates at a high $10 to $12kg.

In dollar per head terms the sale had a price high of $190 for White Suffolk Merino-cross wether lambs that weighed nearly 40kg lwt, with the lowest sale $132 for little Merino wether lambs that averaged 25.6kg live.

Top price honours at $176 for Merino lambs went to noted Riverina property Yamba for 450 of its Alma blood wether lambs that averaged 40.7kg lwt.

The majority of sales on the day were from $140 to $170/head.

Trevor Bassett, Elders, said the sale was underpinned by buyers using the AuctionsPlus platform, with 36 of the 43 lots having on-line bids. About 100 buyers were active on-line.

But there was still solid support from farmers and agents in the crowd who had been able to make it to the Hay saleyards, making for a very honest and competitive auction, he said.

“The people who got here were here to buy and helped keep the job up,’’ he said.

“It was a remarkable day really and it wasn’t even possible to pinch the tail-end lots of lambs – everything was about $10 to $15 dearer than we anticipated.’’

Agents said behind the strong results was the good season and strong farmer confidence after some good trading results for wether lambs in the past 6-months.