Cheaper tone at Ballarat

Yarding: 11,186

Another limited winter type yarding made up of 6602 lambs and 4558 sheep. There was a lot of clean-up lots through the offering of less than 20 head in a pen. Not all the regular buyers attended, some domestic processors having headed north to centres where new season lambs are becoming available in bigger numbers. A key northern exporter was absent from the mutton market. Aside from the best heavy old lambs and about 600 new season lambs which sold at firm rates, the market had a cheaper tone. Agents quoted trade and secondary old lambs as $10 to $15/head softer than a week ago. Heavy mutton was $20 off while light and trade sheep eased by $5 to $10/head.

There was limited runs of good heavy lambs over 28kg cwt and these held their value at $220 to $250/head to trend just over 800c/kg cwt. But the majority of sales were in the $80 to $160/head range, reflecting the winter weight and condition of a lot of lambs.

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Secondary lambs under 24kg cwt were generally in the 720c to 780c/kg price bracket, agents estimated. The 600 new season lambs sold to a top of $220 with most of the reasonable trade types from $170 to $200/head on a quote of 840c to 900c/kg cwt.

The sheep sale lacked drive with the majority of ewes selling below $90/head. The rate for mutton was estimated at 250c to 330c/kg cwt. There was a lot of sheep from $40 to $80/head, with the very plainest under $10/head at times.

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