These 10-11 month-old joined Australian White ewe lambs at Temora, NSW, sold for $620 last week.

SHEEP and lamb throughput on AuctionsPlus increased for the second consecutive week last week, with large offerings of Merino wether lambs and joined Merino ewes.

AuctionsPlus said the 6 percent increase took total listings to 69,940 head, but supply and quality impacted prices.

Joined ewes witnessed price increases across the majority of the indicative categories, while lambs reported an overall cheaper trend. Despite the cheaper market, clearance remained robust through the lamb categories, as reports of good rain across the eastern states helped fuel buyer demand.

A big offering of 18,460 Merino wether lambs held their value well with 68 percent selling for $100-$164 to average $135, a drop of $3 on the previous week.

Lambs generally cheaper

AuctionsPlus said lamb categories saw cheaper trends overall, with only two categories reporting price increases – Merino ewe lambs and shedding breed lambs. Merino ewe lambs averaged $199, up $24, for the healthy 4710 head offered and a 67pc clearance was achieved.

Shedding breed lambs continue to be highly sought after, once again increasing in price for their third consecutive week. There was a 97pc clearance rate for the 1289 head offered and the average price rose $14 to $315/head.

Composite lamb prices drop

The composite and other breed lamb offering lifted to 4020 head, but the average price declined by $125 to $176/head. Crossbred lambs also sold cheaper, with the average price dropping $38 to $155/head. Despite the lower prices, clearance remained strong through the crossbred lines with 90pc achieved for the 4732 head offered, AuctionsPlus said.

Australian White ewes make $620

AuctionsPlus offered about 25,000 joined ewes last week, including 13607 joined Merino ewes. Prices moved substantially for some categories, with five of the eight joined categories increasing in price this week.

The average price for the sound mouth shedding breed ewes increased $129 to $419, with 87pc of the 1103 head offered finding new owners. The increase in the average shedding ewe price was largely influenced by a line of 11 station mated Australian White ewes at Temora in New South Wales that sold for $620/head. The 10-11 month-old ewe lambs averaged 82kg liveweight and were joined to Australian White stud rams.

The average price for the 12,503 scanned in-lamb Merino ewes offered dropped $18 to $261, with 76pc being sold. The average price for the 4963 scanned in-lamb first cross ewes dropped $4 to $308.

Prices for unjoined ewe lines mostly fell, with only one indicative category reporting dearer trends. Merino ewe hoggets increased by $13 to average $212 for the tight 745 head offered. Unjoined shedding breed ewes and Merino ewes both fell in value this week, largely due to only one line selling for each category.

NOTE: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, 10th June 2021.