These 3-4 month-old Australian White ewe lambs at Trundle in New South Wales sold for $122.50 on AuctionsPlus last week.

CROSSBRED and Merino lamb prices improved on AuctionsPlus last week as the overall online offering dropped 2 percent to 71,780 sheep and lambs.

AuctionsPlus said the recent rainfall throughout New South Wales and Queensland breathed some confidence into the sheep market.

The average value over reserve rose $8 to $14, the widest gap between set reserves and returned prices since late July. AuctionsPlus said this suggests a subtle shift towards a seller’s market last week.

Clearance also rose by four percentage points to 65pc, while crossbred prices averaged $64.

AuctionsPlus said the market is still experiencing volatility with no clear trend. Last week’s losses were slightly offset, recovering to levels seen two weeks ago.

The drop in listings can be attributed in the decline of new season lambs, with numbers coming back 17pc to 46,316 head, while the broader lamb market retracted by 21pc on the previous week, AuctionsPlus said.

However, the remainder of the market made up for it, with the sheep offering tripling to be more than 3000 head and the unjoined sheep listings jumping 48pc to 24,133 head. AuctionsPlus said the offering of new season lambs was met with strong demand, returning a 70pc clearance rate and an average of $60/head.

The AuctionsPlus crossbred lamb offering dropped to 22,134 head and 71pc were sold. The average price increased by $4 to $64. At Cumnock in NSW, 540 mixed sex Poll Dorset cross lambs weighing 40kg lwt sold for $100 or 251c/kg to a buyer in Queensland.

The Merino ewe lamb offering retracted 46pc to 1891 head, helping to push the average price up $9 to $45 and deliver an 85pc clearance. At Perillup in Western Australia, 550 one year-old Poll Merino old ewe lambs weighing 46kg made $57/head or 124c/kg lwt with a Victorian buyer.

The Merino ewe offering increased slightly to 5252 head and the average price increased by $6 to $96. At Barmedman in NSW, 142 2.5 year-old Poll Merino ewes weighing 71kg sold for $121.

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 23th November 2023

Source – AuctionsPlus.