Market lifts at Bendigo

Yarding - 15,330

Dearer market across all the main weights and grades, with mutton leading the rises as it went through another price bounce of $30 to $50/head for heavy ewes. A few more lamb numbers came out at 11180 head yarded, while sheep supply declined to 4150 head.

There was stronger demand on the lead heavy lambs and sheep, with more processors competing and putting pressure on the dominant northern buyer. Most lambs gained $5 to $15/head, and often on plainer winter like quality. Any good restocking lambs were noticeably dearer, linked into reports of very strong forward price rates being offered for slaughter lambs in July and August.

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Heavy export lambs from $252 to a top of $295/head on mixed quality at times. The main run of heavy crossbreds, 26-30kg cwt, from $219 to $260/head. General run of trade lambs $175 to $220/head with select heavy trade lambs in short skins to $236/head. Good runs of slaughter lambs were estimated as costing processors averages of 830c to 860c/kg cwt, which put the best lambs in each category near 900c/kg cwt or above. Any reasonable quality trade Merino lambs with some fat cover were well supported at $170 to $210/head and there was some pens estimated over 800c/kg cwt. Feeders paid from $160 to $180/head for bigger lambs to feed on, while any decent lines of small restocking lambs were much dearer than a week ago at $115 to $157/head.

Less sheep and more demand were the cornerstones of the dearer mutton sale. There was more processors competing support on heavy sheep, while a buyer who has only watched the market recently stepped back into light mutton which lifted the plainest lines. Good pens of ewes with frame and some fat cover from $180 to a top of $263/head; lot of trade sheep from $130 to $170/head; light sheep mostly $70 to $125 for the better types with the most secondary ewes at $20 to $66/head. Good lines of mutton were estimated as costing processors from 560c to 640c/kg cwt. The very light sheep in score 1 condition sold at lower c/kg rates.

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