Lamb prices down in a much smaller yarding at Bendigo

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Yarding - 21,000 (-17,800).

Lambs - 15,000 (-9800).

Sheep - 6000 (-8000).

Much smaller yarding, influenced by the disrupted week in Victoria due to the Melbourne Cup public holiday. Lamb quality was plainer, with less really fresh conditioned young lambs available. All the regular meat buyers operated and there was more store buying activity over lightweight lambs, but the market overall was cheaper. Price outcomes did vary on quality, with the best young lambs still in good clean skin holding their value the best. Most sales were from $7 to $15 cheaper, with some categories recording losses of up to $20/head compared to a week ago.

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Just one pen of extra heavy young lambs topped at $230/head. The bulk of the lead drafts of unshorn crossbred lambs weighed from 26kg to30kg and made from $202 to $222/head, based on a skin return of around $4. The good 24kg to 26kg young lambs sold from $180 to$206/head. Bidding was patchy across the general run of trade weight lambs, 20kg to 23kg, and showing some dryness in the skin, at $145 to$170/head for most. On a carcass basis there was a spread of 680c to 770c over processing lambs, with most of the better finished stock averaging between 730c and 750c/kg cwt. There was more store buying activity, with agents from Horsham, Bendigo, Echuca, Shepparton and Wodonga operating. Bigger sized store lambs, 18kg to 20kg, sold from $139 to $158; smaller lambs to the paddock varied from $98 to$135/head.

Sheep numbers also fell sharply on the big supplies of recent weeks, with just 6,000 yarded. Mutton did show a firm to dearer trend, particularly over heavy weight ewes. But demand was selective and if one major export buyer didn't compete on a pen any price improvement was much more modest. There was some strong results achieved for nicely presented trade weight sheep. The good runs of processing sheep were estimated between 570c to 600c/kg cwt. Big crossbred ewes sold from $170 to $198/head; heavy Merino ewes sold from $145 to $185, while better conditioned trade and lighter weight mutton made from $105 to $145/head

https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/Bendigo-Livestock-Exchange