What's in store: confusing results

Most significantly, the supply of new season's young lambs reported at Meat & Livestock Australia's (MLA) 10 largest Eastern States markets - five in Victoria plus Dubbo, Forbes and Wagga Wagga in NSW and Naracoorte and Mount Gambier, SA - has seen turn-off increase by more than 120,000 head to 2.26m to lead last year's turn-off by more than five per cent for the same period.

This increase in the initial sucker or unshorn lamb supply for the 16-week period leading up until the Christmas recess comes as somewhat of a surprise given the strong anecdotal evidence during the lambing period that the autumn-winter birth and survival rates were poor, and a survey of breeders indicated lamb markings would be much the same.

Initially it was first thought that the late break to autumn and the early cut-off of the spring across the northern regions of the supply would see good numbers retained and carried over for sale as shorn lambs.

But as the season has unfolded this 5pc increase in the spring turn-off has been maintained all the way through to the first half of the selling season.

Weekly lamb slaughtering for the Eastern States have also increased by a solid margin of 3.5pc, rising to 367,950 head per week.

While this higher figure is most encouraging and has not resulted in the lengthy delay in kill schedules like last year, it does means however that an extra 190,000 lambs have been processed over the survey period compared to a year ago, and wipes out all the increase registered in the larger saleyards throughput.

A review of the restocker activity for the period also reveals more stocks have been purchased and tucked away for sale at a later point in the season.

This increased restocker activity has grown by a margin of 10pc over last year and suggests that an extra 60,000 lambs more have been recorded as store lamb purchases in MLA saleyards data than until this time 12 months ago.

This information all tends to suggest that prime lamb producers have, in fact, taken a greater portion of this year's higher early money in the market whereby prices have averaged 49c/kg or 13pc greater year-on-year for trade lambs and 54c/kg higher for export classes.

Store lamb values have also averaged around $7-$8 a head higher this year compared to a year ago.

A CLASSED line of three-year-old proven Merino breeders, sold at $116 a head, highlighted a successful Skipton-district circuit sale of 6400 store sheep last week.

TB White & Sons' James Gordon said the sale of noted breeders from Mt Widderin and the Estate of Geo Russell's Mooramong and Langi Willi flocks was well supported and well attended by local producers as well as producers across the State.

Mr Gordon said the line of 242 Mt Widderin three-year-olds, which were October shorn, were sold to a buyer interest from Cavendish, north of Hamilton.

At the Mooramong leg a line of 820 August-shorn 1yo made $110, while the 2yo age group made $88 and represented value buying on the day, Mr Gordon said.

The Mooramong breeding flock, was purchased at auction 12 months ago by the Estate of Geo Russell.

But due to a change in structure of some of leased country, the Mooramong flock was again dispersed and sold to local interests as well as to Euroa and Geelong.

The lines of 5-7yo Mooramong ewes made $67, while 850 November-shorn 6-7yo Estate of Geo Russell Langi Willi ewes made $58 and $59 and were sold to the meat processing trade.

At the sales final leg at Banongill, a line of 550 two-year-old Merino ewes made $102, while 1200 Merino wethers aged three years made $70 selling also to the meat trade with some restocker success.

Mr Gordon said the sale represented a great opportunity to purchase quality sheep from a renowned sheep breeding district.