Trucks fill up at Powranna yards

I KNOW we have talked a lot about the lamb market recently, but it is really the talking point around the yards at the moment. 

This week we saw interstate markets improve further to record more records for this time of the year. 

At Hamilton on Wednesday they yarded a near record number of 63,000 lambs which followed on from the 26,000 Hamilton yarded on Monday, the 20,000 at Bendigo on Monday and 40,000 at Ballarat on Tuesday for a Victorian total of just over 150,000 lambs for the week. 

From a producer point of view, the big numbers didn’t affect prices and in fact most heavy trade and heavy lambs improved a further $5 to $15/head. 

The big Wednesday sale at Hamilton saw the best lambs quoted between 850c and 1,000c/ kg carcass weight with a top price of $315/head. 

Lambs weighing 22-26 kg made $205 to $268, lambs 18-22 kg $150 to $220 and lighter $80 to $150/head. 

At Powranna on Tuesday agents yarded 3,066 lambs with a very good line-up of new seasons lambs included. 

There was one very heavy pen that topped at $276 while most heavy pens made $196 to $249, trade $154 to $214 and light trade $136 to $156/head.

There was a big price variance once we got below 21 kg and as with interstate markets the lambs with weight are by far the most popular. 

In the interstate markets in Victoria and NSW most heavy lamb averages are sitting around 950c/ kg while lighter lambs are more in the 650c to 800c/kg range which shows the big gap between a 20 kg lamb and a 24 kg lamb. 

Most “experts” are suggesting that more lambs have gone back to the paddock this spring than last spring and so expect an over supply come February/March. 

I don’t think there is any doubt there will be a bit of a correction at some stage but the good news is that we (in Australia) are killing record numbers of lambs and so it will be dependant on what sort of numbers come forward in the autumn.

Mutton prices are also flying along pretty well with many interstate markets averaging 380c to 430c/kg carcass weight which is placing many more sheep in the $100 plus bracket and it does appear that a shortage of killing mutton is on the horizon. 

At Powranna on Tuesday there were 2,189 mutton yarded and extra heavy sheep made $92 to $112, heavy $80 to $120 and medium weights $58 to $96/ head. 

It is great at this time of the year to see the Powranna yards near full, it is very good for our major buyers who can confidently fill trucks which in turn helps producers get better prices. 

With Christmas falling mid week this year there are some works closing for the entire break while others are only taking the public holidays off. This will impact the number of sheep and cattle processed over this period.