These February shorn September-October 2021 drop Egalabra blood Merino wethers at Gulargambone weighing 42.4kg sold for $132 on AuctionsPlus.

CROSSBRED and Merino ewe and wether lamb prices improved on AuctionsPlus last week, in a bigger overall sheep and lamb offering.

AuctionsPlus offered 46,355 sheep and lamb last week, a 4.6 percent increase.

Clearance rates following the immediate closure of sales were again subdued, with the national lamb sale on Tuesday selling 46pc of the offering. This increased to 51pc after post-sale negotiations.  The national sheep sale closed with a clearance of 27pc and this rose to 38pc by Thursday.

AuctionsPlus sold 60pc of the 11,065 crossbred lambs for from $101-$152 to average $134, up $10 on the previous week. The category was 24pc of the total lamb offering. At Yumali in South Australia, a line of April/May drop White Suffolk cross mixed sex lambs weighing 36kg lwt made $152.

The 5365 Merino wether lambs offered accounted for 12pc of total lamb listings. The 51pc that sold made $92-$132 to average $118, up $17. An offering of 1500 September/October 2021 drop wether lambs weighing 42kg lwt at Gulargambone in New South Wales sold in four lines for $132 to a Queensland buyer at St George.

AuctionsPlus sold 79pc of the 1873 Merino ewe lambs listed for $104-$164 to average $136, up $6. First cross ewe lambs made $222-$281 to average $243, down $19, for a 33pc clearance. At Gilgandra, NSW, 200 ewe lambs weighing 59.8kg lwt made the top price of $281 with a NSW buyer at Manilla.

Price dipped for all joined ewe listings, except scanned in-lamb and station mated shedding breeds. AuctionsPlus said while many quality lines of proven breeders were listed, clearance rates reflected buyers playing a waiting game, as just 18pc of both SIL first cross ewes and Merino ewes were sold at auction – making a true price trend very difficult to ascertain.

Scanned in-lamb shedding breed ewes sold to an 80pc clearance, reflecting stable demand for shedding sheep over the past few weeks, AuctionsPlus said. Prices for the category ranged from $149-$685, to average $454 for the 2395 head offered. At Molong, NSW, 156 9-10 month-old scanned in-lamb Australian White weighing 47kg lwt made $595, $300 above their reserve price.

Unjoined ewe categories followed a similar trend to joined breeders, with clearance rates and prices remaining dull. Shedding breed ewes had the largest offering of 3396 head and averaged $168 for the 18pcv sold.

AuctionsPlus sold 66pc of the 1674 unjoined Merino ewe hoggets offered for from $148-$208, to average $184. At Broken Hill, NSW, 200 13-14 month-old Merino ewe hoggets weighing 43kg lwt sold for $208 to a Victorian buyer at Mildura.

Source: AuctionsPlus.