McKean McGregor’s selling team at Bendigo — from left, Alexander Pollock, Zeb Broadbent, Alex Collins and Will Holt — was happy with a new national record price of $435 for these lambs today.

AUSTRALIA’S heavy lamb indicator shot above $11/kg today for the first time after the strong market set a new national record price of $435 for export lambs in Bendigo today.

At the Bendigo Livestock Exchange the McKean McGregor agency sold 65 Poll Dorset and White Suffolk cross lambs to Thomas Foods International for a northern Victorian lotfeeder at Swan Hill.

After sales at Corowa, Bendigo and Dubbo today, the heavy lamb indicator closed at 1110c/kg and the trade lamb indicator finished at 1087c/kg.

McKean McGregor auctioneer Alex Collins said the lambs had an estimated carcase weight of 41-42kg and were part of a consignment of 375 lambs that averaged $424 for the Mallee producer.

The record priced $435 lambs at Bendigo today.

The $435 price tag exceeded the $426 the producer was paid for 204 lambs about three weeks ago in Bendigo, and is $4 higher than the previous national record of $431, set in the Griffith saleyards last month.

Mr Collins said trade lambs also sold well in the sale, depending on quality, making between $11-$12/kg cwt.

Meat & Livestock Australia’s National Livestock Reporting Service said seven pens of heavy export lambs sold over $400/head in the sale.

The price trend was dearer for the best quality processing lambs as they become harder to find in these wintery yardings as more clean-up tail-end drafts come through, the NLRS said.

Plainer and mixed lambs sold at similar rates to a week ago. On the demand side, not all buyers were active with some shut for winter maintenance or operating at reduced capacity, the NLRS said.

The NLRS said there was some very strong domestic orders for neat lambs in the 23-28kg cwt range that recorded some of the highest carcass rates of the sale at $12/kg-plus.

Most export lambs made from $330-$390. Heavy 26-30kg cwt lambs sold from $286-$335, with domestic buyers active as they pushed up into bigger weights to access quality.

The NLRS said best trade lambs made $250-$310 at an estimated cwt cost for runs of quality processing lambs of 1050-1150c/kg, with select trades over 1200c/kg. Plainer wintery lambs and light lambs mostly sold from 900-1050c/kg cwt. Decent light lambs mostly $150-$200. Fed Merino lambs sold to $254 and pens displaying shape and fat cover were well supported at over 1000c/kg, the NLRS said.

The $430 lambs sold by Kevin Miller, Whitty Lennon and Co at Forbes last week.

Today’s markets follow a strong finish to the market last week, when the trade lamb indicator closed at 1071c/kg and the heavy lamb indicator at just under 1100c/kg. A price highlight last week was a centre record of $430 at the Forbes saleyards.

Sixty-year veteran Kevin Whitty said the market was the dearest he had seen. The $430 was paid by for Southern Meats at Goulburn for 21 Poll Dorset cross lambs estimated at 40kg cwt from HK & MD Williams at Ungarie.

“They were beautiful lambs and very well presented.”

Mr Whitty said although only Fletchers International Exports at Dubbo is out doing maintenance, the loss of competition was tempered by the shortage of quality lambs in Victoria. He said the supply shortage is pushing down into the lighter lamb categories.

Auctioneer Luke Whitty said the market was as dearest the market had seen “across the board” with a lot of Victorian competition.

The NLRS said trade weight lambs at Forbes lifted $10-$15 with 20-24kg lines making $215-$274. Heavy lambs to 26kg sold from $250-$307. Extra heavyweights were also $10-$12 better at $282-$430. Carcase prices averaged from 1050-1106c/kg with many sales more.  The best heavy hoggets reached $264/head.