These scanned in-lamb 21-22 month-old first cross ewes at Nevertire in NSW sold for $251 on AuctionsPlus last week.

PRICES and clearances dropped for a smaller commercial sheep and lamb offering on AuctionsPlus last week.

Listings dropped 24 percent to 12,831 head and the overall clearance rate fell 20pc to 52pc.

AuctionsPlus said it was the lowest July sheep and lamb offering recorded on the platform and follows the next lowest offering of 16,919 head the previous week.

The July lull is reportedly being exacerbated by tough conditions slowing growth of new season lambs, that would normally be starting to come onto the market by now.

Value Over Reserve lifted a further $2 to average $21/head over set reserves. The crossbred lamb indicator fell this week by 18pc to an average price of $118/head. AuctionsPlus said its Restocker Lamb Indicator lifted 42c this week to 701c/kg.

The joined ewe offerings fell significantly, but still made up most of the offering with a combined 5,010  head, or 39pc of the total. The scanned in-lamb shedding breed ewe offering dropped 44pc,  but SIL Merino ewes numbers held steady.

Lambs made up the second largest pool at 6,008 head, or 34pc of the offering, with the smaller offering split across lamb classifications.

Listings from Victoria dropped significantly this week to just 500 head, with more than 3000 less head offered compared to the previous week. The offering from Queensland also dropped significantly; however, the New South Wales offering was steady. Purchasers were only active in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, with 3556 sheep and lambs sold to the southern state. There was no processer/feedlot activity online last week.

The crossbred lambs offering fell 2pc to 1619 head, and prices decreased to average $118, down $26 for a 71pc clearance.

At Nevertire in NSW, 375 September-October 2023 drop first cross wethers weighing 39kg lwt, sold for $142/head, or 362c/kg, to a buyer in Trangie, NSW.

The Merino wether lamb poffering fell 38pc to 1725 head and only half were sold for an unchanged average price $75.

At Barcaldine in Queensland, 860 Merino January/February 2024 drop wethers weighing 28kg lwt, made $75/head, or 272c/kg, with a buyer in Condamine, QLD.

The scanned in-lamb Merino ewes offered rose 1pc to 2649 head. The category had a 42pc clearance rate and the average price fell by $1 to $115/head.

The scanned in-lamb first cross ewe offering dropped 44pc to 1090 head, and 14pc sold for an average price of $251/head.

Prices as at 5pm Thursday, July 26, 2024.

Source – AuctionsPlus.