Western Australia’s lamb price record has been smashed yet again, with more competition for well-finished types stronger than ever before.
Lotfeeders, local processors and interstate buyers have breathed fresh life into the auction floor in recent weeks, and pushed prices into uncharted territory.
This has opened up valuable opportunities for those still in the game, while also injecting much-needed confidence back into the sector.
Nutrien Ag Solutions kicked off the sale at the Muchea Livestock Centre today with highly competitive bidding activity setting the pace early.
There was demand right through, as well-finished lambs and heavy muttons sold for strong prices.
It was a line of “outstanding and well-finished” crossbred lambs that came out on top, sold to Bunbury-based processor V&V Walsh for $330/head.
These lambs belonged to the Brown family, Northam, 100 kilometres east of Perth, and were penned by Elders.
“In terms of finish and presentation, they were the complete package when it comes to crossbred lambs,” said Elders auctioneer Jay Macdonald.
“You could tell they had spent the right amount of time in the feedlot and they were presented extremely well.”
Mr Macdonald said the Muchea sale’s yarding was typical for this time of year and winter conditions, with a mix of unfinished and finished lambs.
He said the volume was not the same as last week, however he believed last weekend’s weather could have influenced this.
“It is hard to judge if numbers are starting to slow down or if people didn’t want to put sheep through the saleyard on the back of really wet weather,” Mr Macdonald said.
“Overall the market average was probably a good $10-15/h dearer on those better finished lambs.
“It could very well be beaten tomorrow (Wednesday, July 30) at Katanning, I know there are some good lambs on offer again – so we will see.”
It comes after the record was broken three times in the same sale at Katanning Regional Sheep Saleyards last week, with $320/h paid for heavy crossbred lambs, also purchased by V&V Walsh.
These lambs belonged to the Pearce family, Tarin Rock, 300km south east of Perth.
Westcoast Livestock was first to break the day-old record after a pen of heavy crossbred lambs went under the hammer for $309/h just after 9am at the Katanning sale.
About an hour later, the top-price was smashed again, when a line of lambs penned by Nutrien Ag Solutions made $316/h.
These belonged to Uranbah Estate at Tambellup, 320km south east of Perth.
Nutrien livestock agent Darren Robertson said Urunbah ran their sheep well, grazing them on vetch, oats and barley.
“They were 12-month-old crossbred lambs, we had sold some earlier to an abattoir and they were 66 kilograms liveweight,” Mr Robertson said.
“They haven’t been put in a feedlot or anything – they are well-bred and just put on the right pastures.
“It is what Uranbah do every year – they always take them through to about 12-13 months old and always have very good lambs.”
Mr Robertson said recent prices were in stark contrast to those seen at the same time last year.
“I even had a line of blue tag wethers that sold for $204/h last week, whereas last year we would have struggled to get $30-40/h,” he said.
Elders matched and then beat this to end the sale, with $320/h paid for heavy crossbred lambs purchased by Bunbury-based processor V&V Walsh.
This was $19/h more than the previous high set at Muchea Livestock Centre the day before, where extra heavy Merino lambs sold for $301/h.
Mr Macdonald said competition for well-finished lambs in WA was stronger than ever before, with a massive push from both local and east coast processors looking to fill booking space.
“There’s plenty of competition for those better-end lambs,” he said.
“It is great to see vendors getting a rub of the green, and being rewarded for the time, effort and money that’s gone into presenting those lambs.”
As the market continues to trend, farmers with lambs have held onto and fed them for longer, watching the prices with anticipation.
Traditionally, there hasn’t been money for heavier types in WA because – unlike in the Eastern States – they aren’t suited to a large number of markets.
However, pent-up demand has changed this.
“Lambs north of 28-30 kilograms, typically would sell for less cents per kilogram than those in the 20-28kg, because they are outside the specs most processors want and need,” Mr Macdonald said.
“That’s not what we are seeing at the moment – they are willing to pay whatever the price is, they just need to buy the lambs.”
Looking ahead, Mr Macdonald believed the market for mutton and lamb would continue strong into the spring.
Although not expecting prices to reach the same levels as now, he cannot see them dropping significantly in terms of cents per kilogram.
“WA’s flock is very young,” Mr Macdonald said.
“Producers destocking and reducing breeding ewe numbers, or moving out of sheep entirely, has created a shortfall in numbers.
“Lambing percentages are also down across the State – there are going to be fewer numbers moving forward.
“It all comes back to supply and demand, and keeping all of this in mind, I think the market is going to remain buoyant for some time.”
