Plenty of empty pens at Ballarat

Yarding: 7500

There was a drop in the numbers at one of the smallest winter yardings held at Ballarat in recent times, with just 7,500 combined lambs and sheep offered. The quality of the animals was very mixed, with many small pen lots containing fewer than 20 head as tail-end drafts were sold. Well-finished trade and heavy slaughter lambs were in limited supply, attracting strong interest from buyers in a rising market. Agents reported that most grades of lambs gained $10 per head or more, as estimated carcass prices increased again despite the winter conditions.

The regular buyers were active, and a couple of processors aggressively sought additional numbers. Very few export-weighted lambs were available, selling for a top price of $380 per head at rates close to 1,200 cents per kilogram carcass weight (cwt), according to auctioneers. One agent featured a run of 500 grain-fed shorn lambs in the heavy tradeweight range, which sold between $320 and $354 per head, estimated at over 1,200 c/kg cwt.

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The pricing for higher-quality crossbred slaughter lambs ranged from 1,150 to 1,250 c/kg, with some reaching 1,300 c/kg on occasion. Plainer and lighter lambs sold mostly between 1,000 and 1,100 c/kg. In dollar terms, many mixed tradeweight lambs were priced from $230 to $290 per head, while light lambs ranged from $130 to $220 per head.

The sheep run was limited and did not show much weight or condition to attract buyers. Price trends were similar to recent markets, estimated between 680 and 750 c/kg cwt across most grades of mutton. Some decent pens of crossbred and composite ewes fetched prices from $170 to $220 per head, while Merino ewes with wool sold for up to $220 per head. Very light ewes mostly ranged from $90 to $140 per head.

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