DEMAND was strong for a smaller sheep and lamb offering on AuctionsPlus last week, with Merino ewes lamb selling to $230 and wether lambs to $153.
AuctionsPlus commercial operations officer Teeah Bungey said the online offering dropped to 43,292 head, down 20,412.
“Buyer confidence remained high with patches of rainfall across the country resulting in an 87 percent clearance across all the national sales,” she said.
Prices increased across all Merino categories, with Merino ewe lambs averaging $22 more than the previous week. New South Wales’ Riverina region again dominated buying, securing 8935 head.
Merino ewe lambs in demand
Ms Bungey said Merino ewe lambs were in high demand, selling from $125-$230, averaging $174, and achieving a 100pc clearance. The top price was paid for a line of Apr/May 2019 drop Borung blood lambs weighing 45kgs at Moorook, South Australia. At Buangor in Victoria, a line of April/May 2019 drop Lewisdale blood lambs weighing 47kgs sold for $185 to a NSW buyer. Merino ewe hoggets sold from $151-$262 and averaged $226, up $27. The top price was paid for a line of 1.5 year-old Weealla blood ewes scanned in-lamb to Border Leicester tams at Gilgandra, NSW. The ewes weighed 59kgs.
Merino ewes, 2-4 years-old, averaged $172 and sold from $140-$215. At Dubbo, NSW, a line of unjoined 3.5-4.5 year-old Parkdale SRS blood ewes weighing 55kgs made $161. At Kapunda in SA, a line of 3.5-4.5 year-old Lines Gum Hill blood ewes weighing 43kgs sold for $163.
Older Merino ewes, 4-7 years, sold from $74-$216 and averaged $147. The top price was paid for five year-old Laurel Park blood scanned in-lamb ewes weighing 72kgs at West Wyalong, NSW. At Aramac in Queensland, a line of rising six year-old Terrick Poll blood station mated ewes weighing 47kgs made $78.
Merino ewes with lambs sold from $261-$317 and averaged $270. The top price was paid for a line of rising two year-old unjoined Wallalloo Park and Glendemar blood ewes weighing 62kgs with 1-2 month old White Suffolk cross lambs at Marnoo, Victoria.
Merino wether lambs lift $12 to $153 top price
Merino wether lambs sold from $70-$153 online last, averaging $108, up $12. The top price was paid for a line of May/June 2019 drop Haddon Rig blood wether lambs weighing 47kgs at Milvale, NSW. At Point Pass in SA, a line of June-July 2019 drop White River/Spring Vale North blood wethers weighing 45kgs made $150.50.
Grown Merino wethers sold from $91-$137 and averaged $117, up $11. At Inverell in NSW, a line of 15-28 month-old Haddon Rig blood wethers weighing 45kgs sold for $124.
First cross ewes lambs sell to $325
First cross ewe lambs sold from $96-$325 and averaged $180, down $22, on AuctionsPlus last week. The top price was paid by a South Australian buyer for a line of April/May 2019 drop lambs weighing 62kgs at Wallaloo East in Victoria. At Gilgandra in NSW, a line of July/September 2019 drop lambs weighing 37kg sold to a Victorian buyer at Benalla for $185.
Only two lines of first cross ewes sold online last week. At Pootilla in Victoria, a line of unjoined 1.5 year-old ewes weighing 63kgs sold for $294. At Stoneleigh in Victoria, a line of unjoined 18-19 month-old ewes weighing 61kgs made $263.
Other highlights included a line of 4-7 year-old White Dorper and Australian White ewes weighing 60kgs with 1-3 month-old Australian White cross lambs at Tilpa in NSW sold for $236. At Trangie in NSW, a line of scanned empty 6-7 month-old composite cross ewes weighing 52kgs sold for $235 to a Victorian buyer at Hamilton.
Store lambs are still popular
The high demand for store lambs continued on and 93pc of the 16,010 head offered online were sold. They made from 336-568c/kg live, to average 411c/kg. Highlights included:
– First cross mixed sexes, Oct/Nov 2019 drop, 27kg lwt, $142 or 568c/kg live, Walgett, NSW
– White Suffolk cross, Sept/Oct 2019, 22kg, $109 or 500c/kg, Cooma, NSW
– Highland cross wethers, Aug/Sept 2019, 35kg, $139 or 415c/kg, Bungendore, NSW
– Poll Dorset cross, July/Aug 2019, 42kg, $148 or 370c/kg, Heywood, VIC
– Dorper mixed sexes, Mar/Apr 2019, 40kg, $146 or 362c/kg, Morven, QLD
– Poll Merino cross wethers, May/June 2019, 38kg, $120 or 336c/kg, Keilira, SA
HAVE YOUR SAY