Off the pace at Bendigo

Yarding - 16,380

Lamb numbers declined and so did quality which fed into a sale that performed around lamb presentation and finish. The best trade or supermarket style lambs held their value but plainer types were cheaper which dragged back average price results. Most lamb categories were $5 to $10/hd off the pace of a week ago, the plainest light lambs showing bigger declines at times. Not all buyers operated fully, particularly in the export lamb run. In contrast there was still some robust support from key domestic buyers if the lambs fit specifications. Overall the market continued to break-up in carcass price terms, showing a wide spread at times. As an example the heavy trade lambs went from 750c/kg cwt to hit on 900c/kg cwt at the top end. The first pen of new season lambs, estimated around 25-26kg cwt and off irrigation from Boort, sold for $235 to also be costing around 900c/kg cwt. But there was a lot of plainer wintery old lambs which sold in the sub 800c/kg cwt range. The end result was averages of 770c/kg cwt to 830c/kg over the main categories of processing lambs.

Export lambs over 30kg cwt were limited and mostly in small pen lots at $239 to a top of $266/hd. The heavy 26-30kg cwt lambs $204 to $240; trade crossbred lambs with a bit of style mostly $174 to $215/hd with just a few sales higher. Heavy Merino lambs in a skin topped at $233, with the better heavy trades at $168 to $189/hd. But any Merino lambs lacking fat cover and weight were much cheaper in this sale. There was a couple of big lines of light Dorper lambs, including a consignment from Broken HIll in NSW, which sold at cheaper rates. Most of the reasonable quality light MK style processing lambs $80 to $125/hd.

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Little change to sheep supply at 7400 head, but also with a lot of winter clean-up lots of less than 20 in a pen. The mutton market was cheaper by $10 to $20/hd tracking 40c either side of a baseline cost of 400c/kg to processors. Heavy ewes $110 to $141; general run of ewes $70 to $110; lightest ewes $10 to $40/hd.

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