Big price surges at Bendigo

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Yarding - 8400

Big price surges across the yarding as supply remained low at less than 8,500 head. Quality remained mixed although there was still some handy lines of shorn fed lambs, while a few pens of fresh tradeweight new season lambs appeared. Competition was keener although some processing orders were still absent and other buyers ended up mostly watching the sale as prices spiked significantly on a week ago. Good processing lambs gained $30 to $50/head, in some places lifting by more than this. Any secondary or lightweight lambs lacking fat cover or in rough skins were also dearer but didn't record the big gains of the better stock. Mutton lifted by $20 to $60, with some of the best improvements recorded for heavy ewes and wethers. The sale marked one of the biggest week-on-week price changes ever seen at Bendigo.

Heavy export lambs $240 to a top of $266/head, with competition dominated by a couple of processors who rely on the auction system for numbers over forward contracts. Some major exporters were still absent. Heavy lambs 26-30kg cwt benefited from domestic competition and sold from $206 to $250. Heavy trade lambs 24-26kg cwt sold from $194 to $225/head. The pick of the medium trade lambs made $183 to $215/head. On a carcass basis, good processing lambs lifted to between 780c to 870c/kg cwt, all the main heavy and trade categories averaging over 800c/kg this week.

New season lambs continued to trickle in, and the first pens of fresh tradeweights appeared making from $196 to a top of $213/head for an estimated 25kg cwt. The same NSW property sent down another line of little Merino lambs which sold to $115 compared to a best of $97/head last Monday.

Demand for mutton intensified again. Heavy crossbred ewes $190 to a top of $220, while a line of outstanding Merino wethers topped at $247/head. Light sheep $110 to $138/head. The better lines of mutton were estimated as costing processors from 570c to 650c/kg cwt.

https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/Bendigo-Livestock-Exchange