These September-November 2023 drop mixed sex Dorper lambs weighing 41.8lwt sold for $140 on AuctionsPlus at Barcaldine in Queensland last week.

AUCTIONSPLUS commercial sheep and lamb listings more than halved to 16,919 head last week to one of the marketplace’s lowest offerings on record.

AuctionsPlus said there is always a lull in the offering during July, but sheep and lamb yardings had only been lower in a couple of other instances, in 2016 and 2017.

The overall clearance rate dropped 4 percent to 72pc.

AuctionsPlus said offerings will start to lift in volume again as new season lambs come onto the market in the coming weeks.

Value Over Reserve lifted a further $3/head last week, averaging $18/head over set reserves.

The crossbred lamb indicator or average price increased again by 7pc to $144.

The AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb Indicator dropped 30c this week to 659c, after climbing 179c the previous week.

The joined ewe offerings fell significantly, but still made up most of the offering with a combined 8571 head, or 51pc of the total. Scanned in-lamb Merino ewes and SIL first cross ewes offerings were back significantly.

Lambs made up the second largest pool of 6008 head, or 36pc of the offering, with the smaller offering split across lamb classifications.

Listings from Queensland dropped significantly this week, with 12,036 less head offered compared to the previous week. This was after the Queensland offering more than doubled the previous week. The offering was also significantly less in New South Wales with 7403 less head offered last week. Victorian sheep producers offered an addition 1968 head.

Purchasing activity mirror offering behaviour, with Queensland and NSW buying significantly less than last week and Victorian producers buying additional articles. Processer/feedlot activity snapped up 2pc of the offering this week, slightly back on the previous week.

The crossbred lamb offering dropped 55pc to 1649 head, and prices increased week to average $44 – up $9 for a 100pc clearance.

AuctionsPlus offered 2767 Merino wether lambs, down 21pc, and only 22 sold for an average price of $91, down $2.

The scanned in-lamb Merino ewe offering dropped 62pc to 2618 head. The category had a 97pc clearance rate and prices fell by $14/head to average $116/head.

Scanned in-lamb first cross ewe numbers were back 28pc to 1157 head, and 67pc sold for an average price of $160, down $19.

Note: Prices as at 5pm Thursday, July 18, 2024.