Heavy Lambs $20-$30 dearer at Bendigo

Zero Commission Livestock Selling - Agents and Private sellers, you can now sell your Livestock for free on Farm Tender. Check out how it works here.

Yarding - 33,350

Bigger yarding of 24,200 lambs although much of the increase was across light and store categories. A property from near Yea sent in 4500 young composite style unshorn lambs. It was a dearer lamb market, particularly across any heavy weights which gained $20 to $30 and bidding went above $200 today for the first time in some months. There was also some much dearer sales of heavy trade lambs. The stronger results were achieved despite a lot of lambs being borderline for fat cover and carcass finish. Some southern meatworks which had been quiet stepped-up today for more numbers. Store and light lambs were firm to a $8 dearer with processing orders for MK ‘bag lambs’ competing against restockers.

Despite the dearer rates on offer for heavy lambs there was only a few hundred lambs which weighed over 30kg cwt in this sale working out to less than 2pc of the yarding. Heaviest shorn lambs $200 to a top of $220. Main run of heavy 26-30kg shorn lambs $167 to $207 to average $188. The neat heavy trades, 24-26kg cwt, $151 to $174 to average $165/head. Heaviest woolly unshorn lambs $166 to $192, with the lead trade run from $132 to $170/head. The market did touch on 700c/kg cwt at times, but the average cost of a run of good slaughter lambs was between 620c to 670c/kg cwt. There was plainer trade lambs under 620c at $115 to $137, and the category that struggled to build momentum was the in-between 20-22kg lambs which lacked fat cover. There was still strong support for MK processing lambs, and most light lambs sold between $60 and $100/head. The main run of small store lambs to the paddock averaged $62 to be similar to a week ago. Agents reported the 4500 composite lambs averaged $67 after selling to a mix of processing and restocking orders.

Few less sheep at 9150 head and export demand was flat for heavy sheep with one buyer dominating and not really pushed by other meatworks. Heavy sheep were $4 to $8 cheaper. In contrast light and trade mutton was firm to $5 dearer. Heavy sheep $50 to $65, light sheep mostly $37 to $60. The ballpark cost for mutton was 160c to 220c/kg cwt.

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