These August-September 2021 drop Tumby Station composite lambs weighing 40.5kg at Uarbry, NSW, sold for $159 on AuctionsPlus last week.

AUCTIONSPLUS presented its largest online offering of commercial sheep and lamb sales since the first week of April last week.

The offering of 68,724 head was 32 percent up on the previous week, at 68,724 head, and met mixed demand with no clear trends.

In the lamb categories, only the average prices for crossbred and first cross ewe lambs were higher at the close of the auctions. Both the main Merino categories were back, but full clearances were achieved for mixed sex Merino lambs, shedding lambs and composite/other breed lines.

AuctionsPlus said with a cold weather blast hitting the southern states, buyer interest was again mixed, although post-auction negotiations lifted clearance rates as the week progressed. Composite lambs remained in strong demand, while most of the proven joined lines took a step back.

The largest lamb category for the week was the crossbreds, with 15,928 head offered. The 55pc clearance rate at the immediate conclusion of Tuesday’s sale lifted to 69pc by late Thursday, and the average priced rose $6 to $147/head. A line of 500 mixed sex White Suffolk/Merino cross lambs weighing 46kg lwt at Canowindra in New South Wales sold for $188/head.

AuctionsPlus said prices for the Merino lamb categories took a step back, with wether lambs averaging $7 lower at $124, and ewe lambs down $29 to $203. At Kiata in Victoria, a line August/September 2021 drop Poll Merino wether lambs weighing 52kg lwt sold for $160 to a South Australian buyer at Bordertown.

First cross ewe lambs sold from $177-$282 and averaged $13 higher at $237. AuctionsPlus sold 57pc of the 3811 head offered. The 1791 composite lambs all sold for an average of $151, down $21. At Hordern Vale in Victoria, 700 mixed sex composite lambs weighing 34kg lwt sold for $150.

AuctionsPlus said it was a very mixed breeding ewe market, with some low clearance rates and price falls through the smaller, populated lines. AuctionsPlus sold 69pc of the 10,585-head scanned in-lamb Merino ewe offering — up from a 60pc clearance rate in Tuesday’s sale – for an average of $235, up $15.A line of 95 20-21 month-old Merino ewes weighing 53kg lwt at Willaura, Victoria, sold for $100 above reserve at $324.

The average price for 9059 scanned in-lamb first cross ewes offered slipped $2 to $332. The immediate post-sale clearance of 38pc on Tuesday lifted to 54pc by late Thursday.

A highlight for the scanned in-lamb shedding breed ewe category was 296 SIL 10-11 month-old Australian White ewes split across four lots at Kingscote, SA, weighing 45kg lwt, that sold for returned $614/head to a NSW buyer at Berrima.

At Forbes, NSW, a line of nine month-old Merino ewe lambs weighing 43.7kg lwt made $254/head to a buyer in Benalla, Victoria.

NOTE: Prices as at 5pm, Thursday 2nd June 2022