The $366.20 crossbred ewes at the Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre yesterday. Image – courtesy WRL Facebook.

WAGGA Wagga stock agents yesterday sold what is believed to be the most expensive mutton ever marketed in a saleyard in Australia.

Wagga Regional Livestock auctioneer Isaac Hill sold 47 mostly composite ewes for $366.20 on Thursday to Fletcher International Exports at Dubbo.

He said the record-priced pen was made up of sheep estimated to be over 40kg carcase weight, from three different vendors.

“All I’m saying is that they are above 40kg, they are as good a crossbred as you will ever see …. and therefore that’s landed them in at about $8/kg cwt.”

He said three processors started bidding on the sheep, before Fletchers won them.

The sale also included very heavy full wool Merino ewes that sold to $354 and helped drive the national mutton indicator to more than 748c/kg.

According to an analysis of Meat & Livestock Australia National Livestock Reporting Service data, the previous highest mutton sale to a processor before the Wagga sale was $336 for Merino wethers at Hamilton in 2020, but with a wool value component.

MLA market information manager Steve Bignell said sheep in other sales have sold for higher amounts in previous saleyard sales, but these had a breeder component, and mostly occurred during flock rebuild periods in 2000 and 2022. These sales included Merino ewes that sold in Katanning in 2022 for $470 that could have been bought by either a processor or restocker. Merino ewes also sold for $427 in Wagga Wagga in 2022 and in Dubbo a restocker paid $380 for Merino hogget ewes.

Mr Hill said the Wagga area had not been as drought-affected as western Victoria or South Australia.

“We’re already seeing minimal (mutton) numbers and just here locally we haven’t had to go through a liquidation of our flock.

“If I can put the crystal ball there and say they (Victoria and SA) have gone through a liquidation and we have no numbers here, well then there has just got to be in the eastern states bugger all mutton to kill.”

WRL auctioneer Jon Bergmeier also sold 39 grain-finished White Suffolk cross lambs for Scholz Farming at Pleasant Hills for a centre record of $450 estimated at 40kg-plus cwt. They were bought by Southern Meats at Gouburn.

Mr Hill said his agency yarded three of the four pens of new season lambs in the sale.

“We would expect that to go from three pens to six pens in two weeks.

“We would expect to go from six to 16 pens … I don’t see any increase in numbers of lambs in earnest in Wagga until after about a month from now.

MLA’s National Livestock Marketing Service’s Wagga report said agents yarded 10,000 sheep on Thursday, 1000 fewer than last week, and 24,000 lambs, 10,500 fewer.

The NLRS said despite the decline in numbers, buyer participation remained steady, although not all buyers were present and some buyers were selective, particularly regarding woolly lambs.

There was an improvement in quality, with a very good selection of predominantly grain-fed trade and heavy lambs.

The NLRS said the trade lamb market was predominantly influenced by Victorian processors, who concentrated their bids on shorter-skinned, grain-assisted lambs. For those meeting quality standards, trade lambs sold for prices up to $10 dearer to $200-$318. Merino trade lambs attracted significant interest from most processors and prices rose $15, resulting in bulk sales at $190-$306. Heavy Merino lambs also sold to strong demand, at $290-$364.

Heavy export lambs prices also lifted by $16-$24/head, with most heavy lambs averaging between 1200 and 1300 cents per kilogram cwt. Heavy lambs weighing between 26-30kg sold for $323-$398, and those over 30 kilograms cwt made $398-$450.

The NLRS said not all buyers operated on the mixed yarding of mutton. Prices soared over all categories with heavy Merino ewes the big improvers, lifting $70. A major northern processor dominated the sale with some exporters unable to operate due to the big lift in heavy mutton rates. Heavy Merino ewes sold from $265-$354 to average 887c/kg cwt. Heavy Merino wethers over 30kg topped at $343 to average 953c/kg cwt. Trade sheep the better types $151-$196/head.