A bounce in the right direction at Wagga Wagga

Yarding - 66,950

Lamb supply lifted to 45,500 head to be up nearly 10,000 on a week ago. But even with these bigger numbers quality pens of trade and heavy lambs remained limited, and buyers did note the quick tail-off in finish and presentation for such a big yarding. There was more energy from the buying group, with a supermarket order back after an absence. Heavy lambs were firm to $5 dearer, while there was price bounces of up to $10 and more on the very neat trade lambs and well presented shorn feeder lambs which were later drop and could be safely fed into the winter. But buyers were still able to ‘shandy’ down their costs by purchasing over the general run of mixed presented lambs, including woollier types. It meant the sale did show a fairly wide carcass price spread of 600c to 760c/kg cwt over the main draw of lambs. When everything was calculated in the key heavy and trade lamb categories were averaging between 670c to 720c/kg cwt. To make over 700c/kg cwt lambs had to display shape and be neatly presented in shorter-skins.  

Heavy export lambs from $200 to a top of $260, with most sales from $210 to $240 for the neater types in the 30-34kg cwt range and it was these lambs which carried the carcass price higher as the heaviest remained similar to a week ago. A stand-out pen of fed Merino lambs, estimated around 30kg cwt, sold to $210. There was some price bounces in the heavy crossbred lamb run as domestic buyers stepped into neat 26-28kg cwt lambs, the main category of 26-30kg cwt lambs selling from $178 to $215 to average $195/head. The very best of the heavy trade lambs, 24-26kg cwt, from $178 to $193 to all make over 700c/kg cwt. The general run of heavy trade lambs $154 to $182/head. Fresh conditioned medium trade lambs in the 20-22kg cwt range were scare and made $150 to $167/head to have the highest carcass price of the market. Feeder and store buyers did step-into well bred trade type lambs at $120 to $160 in a dearer result, some categories estimated as costing over 700c/kg cwt. In the light lamb run the better style MK lambs mostly $80 to $125. There was more Merino lambs in this yarding, including a lot of smaller types. Buyers did support any well finished trade Merino lambs and there was a paddock/feeder order also operating in the $120 to $145/head range. Very small Merinos $20 to $70/head. 

Don't miss a thing. Join The Farmers Club.

Stronger mutton sale particularly across the lead pens of heavy ewes and Merinos wethers. Big Merino wethers in wool sold to $150, Merino ewes to $140 and big meat ewes to $140. The majority of the big crossbred ewes sold over $100/head. Middle run of sheep from $70 to $110, and decent light sheep sold above $50head. The estimated range for most sheep was 350c to 420c/kg cwt.

https://wagga.nsw.gov.au/business-investment/council-businesses/livestock-marketing-centre