Bendigo market "lacked spark"
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Tech News
- Jun 15, 2020
- 1018 views
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Yarding - 19,000 (+2000).
Lambs - 15,800 (+1800).
Sheep - 3200 (+200).
There was only a modest lift in lamb numbers to 15,800 head following the Queen's Birthday holiday break. The lead runs of lambs off grain remained very good, however the yarding did fade out into a winter's market of smaller clean-up lots of varied quality. The sale lacked spark, with all the regular buyers attending but not operating at usual levels. The market was cheaper and hit some flat spots in a fluctuating auction. Buyers were very selective on longer-woolled lambs that visually didn't present well even though they still had some fat cover underneath.
A pen of extra heavy crossbred lambs over 40kg cwt topped at $301/head. But most of the export lambs sized from 30kg to 35kg cwt sold from $250 to $270/head, with an average run estimated at 750c/kg cwt. Underneath this was a lot of sales from $207 to $240 for medium and heavy lambs weighing from 24kg to 28kg cwt, costing an estimated 820c to 850c/kg cwt based on low skin returns of $2 to $3/head per pelt. Competition was more robust over the neat domestic pens under 24kg cwt, with the pick of these lambs from 870c to 890c/kg cwt. It meant there wasn't a lot of difference in dollar per head terms over weight categories, with the main run of 22kg to 24kg crossbred lambs averaging $209 compared to $217/head for the 24kg to 26kg types. Heavy Merino lambs sold from $216 to $238/head, with the best quality types showing shape and good cover at 770c to 800c/kg cwt.
Only 3,200 sheep were yarded, however only a handful of export companies compared with a lot of buyers only watching. Mutton was cheaper, varying from 620c to 680c/kg cwt depending on weight. Heavy sheep made from $200 to $260/head.
https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/Bendigo-Livestock-Exchange
https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/Bendigo-Livestock-Exchange
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