Good Merino lambs with weight are in demand.

PROCESSORS are increasingly being forced into suitable Merino lambs as their ‘top down’ search for quality slaughter lambs with weight intensifies.

Despite a lack of restocker activity and drop in the indicator – 37 cents down to 595c/kg — in the past week, the tightening of lamb supplies has helped lift the Merino lamb indicator 576 cents/kg to 690c/kg and the light lamb indicator 22 cents to 679c//kg, up to 11 July.

The key export and domestic slaughter lamb indicators also rose over the same period – the heavy indicator up 60 cents to 855c/kg and the trade indicator up 47 cents to 836c/kg.

At the Wagga Wagga saleyards yesterday, the National Livestock Reporting Service said the impact of supply and demand was evident, with many export weight lines making over $300/head.

In the smaller yarding, Wagga agents yarded about 39,000 lambs, 10,560 fewer, and 13,000 sheep, 3000 less, with prices for big heavy lambs making $270-$320, a rise of $20/head.

The NLRS said 26-30kg lambs made $230-$291, as southern processors once again drove the market across trade weight categories with supplies further south drying up.

Trade lambs improved by $12-$20/head, with heavy trade lambs making $220-$248. Trade lambs 20-24kg made $158-$220, averaging 876c/kg cwt.

The NLRS said Merino lambs were in high demand at Wagga, selling from $156-$196, with the heavier portion making $200-$258. Merino hoggets made $147-$176 and crossbreds sold from $145-$177. The NLRS said there was little action from feedlots and restockers, with prices ranging from $73 to $165.

The mutton market was also dearer, with heavy sheep making $130-$190 to average 468c/kg cwt. Trade and light sheep were well-supplied and all buyers stepped up for a market share, sending prices $10 to $24 higher. The NLRS said. Prices ranged from $91-$135 averaging 478c to 513c/kg cwt.

A similar trend was evident at the Griffith saleyards today, with NLRS market reporter Jenny Kelly reporting higher prices for lamb and mutton for the limited Winter yarding of 4250 lambs, 2950 fewer, and 2800 sheep, 350 more.

Ms Kelly said any of the heavier lambs over 24kg cwt gained $15-$30. Results were more mixed in a lighter lamb categories, partly due to quality and a lot of smaller clean-up lots. She said any extra heavy export lambs over 30kg cwt sold to $290 for crossbreds and to $255 for Merinos.

As weight declined buyers still payed similar dollar per head money for the best of the 26-30kg cwt crossbred lambs and these were the highlight selling to $278 and averaging close to $260 at a rate estimated at just over 900c/kg cwt, Ms Kelly reported.

“As a rule any heavy lambs over 26kg cwt sold above $200/hd.

“Once onto the average trade run prices varied from $150 to $180 for the better types, and $90 to $138 for lighter kill lambs.”

Ms Kelly said most of the lighter and plainer processing lambs were in the range of 700c to 800c/kg cwt.

Processors also stepped up the pace for sheep, with carcase rates for good heavy trade mutton hitting an estimated 600c/kg cwt. Ms Kelly said demand for sheep with weight and fat cover was exceptionally strong from the opening pen, and like lamb the ‘sweet spot’ of the sale was for nicely weighed sheep in the 24-30kg cwt range that sold from $136 up to $194.20 for Merinos in a skin. Extra heavy Merinos ewes sold to $195, heavy Dorper ewes to $169 and crossbreds to $168. Light sheep were limited and made from $63 to $108/head.

Buyers working from the ‘top down’

Riverina Livestock Agents director and auctioneer Tim Drum said processor demand at Wagga started “from the top down basically.”

“They all wanted the heavy ones and they were making per kilogram as the trade lambs were.”

He said the state of the lamb market reflected a lack of quality in the offering relative to demand, including at other eastern states centres.

Mr Drum said the increase in Merino lamb demand was for lines of Middle East or MK kill weight or heavier – 14-15kg-plus with cover.

“The exporters that couldn’t buy the heavy crossbred lambs because they were making too much stepped into the Merinos – that’s what I mean by it started from the top down – they had to readjust.

“It was the same for the mutton basically.”

Mr Drum said a lot of the Merino lambs making $150-$180 yesterday at Wagga that would have made $115-$150 the previous week, despite being good enough.

“And there were some good Merino lambs there that encouraged them to do that.”

When asked if the current lamb rates would hold, Mr Drum said he can’t see more numbers coming forward.

“If they were going to come they were going to come this week.

“I think we’ve actually caught up on them,” he said.

“And from our district south, the suckers are going to be very late.”

Mr Drum said the current Merino lambs rates might encourage producers with lambs to sell to perhaps finish them “as long as they’ve got the feed,” although most producers are into lambing or have lambed and crops will be locked up in a few weeks.

“There is not a lot of time, unless they are feeding them on grain, it’s worth doing now if you know you are going to get that sort of money.”