Heavy rain keeps numbers away at Bendigo Sheep and Lambs
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Tech News
- Dec 17, 2018
- 622 views
- Share
Yarding - 17,000 (-11,422).
Lambs - 10,000 (-6,422).
Sheep - 7,000 (-5,000).
Lamb and sheep numbers fell away after some heavy rain across the region, making it the smallest yarding for some time. Quality also declined, with the bulk of the lambs lacking fat cover and finish. Not all the usual export and domestic buyers operated in a subdued market. Prices for the better presented slaughter lambs over 22kg cwt were firm to a few dollars dearer, while light weight lambs were $5 to $10/head dearer on the back of restocker and feedlot demand.
Ad - Forest Springs Merinos now have Flock Rams available - Give Bruce Dean a call on 0407 054 342 - Ad
Ad - Forest Springs Merinos now have Flock Rams available - Give Bruce Dean a call on 0407 054 342 - Ad
There wasn't a lot of weight in the lamb yarding, and the best shorn lambs sold to $195 and unshorn lambs to $189/head. The lead pens of lambs in a plain line-up generally made from $160 to $185, while there was a lot of mid-range lambs, which varied from $135 to $155/head. On a carcase basis the better quality types to processors were estimated at 670c to 720c/kg. Competition for light weight lambs was the keenest of the sale, with most sales from $90 to $132/head. A run of small store lambs in the 12-16kg cwt range averaged $113/head to the paddock.
Ad - Forest Springs Merinos now have Flock Rams available - Give Bruce Dean a call on 0407 054 342 - Ad
Ad - Forest Springs Merinos now have Flock Rams available - Give Bruce Dean a call on 0407 054 342 - Ad
The sheep sale lacked the solid export and northern buyer demand which has been evident in recent weeks, causing a price correction of $5 to $20/head across a lot of mutton. Heavy crossbred ewes were the most affected. Quality was also an issue as there was a lot of clean-up lots of less than 20 head throughout the market and these were heavily discounted at times. The best lines of Merino ewes and wethers still managed to trend above 400c/kg cwt, however a general run of sheep was estimated as costing processors less than 400c/kg.
This was the last sale at Bendigo for this year. Markets will recommence on Monday, 7th January 2019
Share Ag News Via