RECORDS tumbled left, right and centre this ram selling season in WA as stud breeders reaped the rewards of the strong sheep and wool markets.
With producers full of confidence following a reasonable start to the season and solid meat and wool markets they weren’t afraid to bid up in sales this year.
As a result the season average across all breeds jumped to an impressive $1193, the best ever recorded by breeders giving everyone plenty to smile about given the time and effort that goes into breeding seedstock.
Once again this year the season could not have been any better set up.
Most areas got some good opening rains in April, which got things off to a good start and gave producers plenty of confidence.
But like last year some areas have again seen the season fizzle out after the rain dried up in late winter.
As a result many producers in the prime sheep producing areas again experienced another below average rainfall year which will result in many dry dams over summer.
While the season certainly turned out to be nothing to write home about, producers had reason to smile when it came to the sheep and wool markets.
In the sheep market the strong demand, which started in 2014 due to the opening up of new sheepmeat markets and solid live export demand, saw prices track last year’s high levels.
Wether prices peaked at $130 in September at the Muchea Livestock Centre but for the majority of the time since April they have ranged between $90 and $100, similar to last year.
This firm market was further reinforced at the Combined Agents Katanning June Special Sheep sale when the wether portion of the yarding averaged $90.73, back $18.98 on last year and topped at $114.50, on the back of no live export competition in the sale compared to previous years.
Like wether prices, lamb prices this year have held firm on last year’s skyrocketing prices.
When the selling season started at the beginning of September, sucker lambs were selling at 560 cents a kilogram at the Muchea Livestock Centre, which was up 20c/kg on 2014 and 110c/kg dearer than 2013, while old season lambs were selling for 460c/kg, up 40c/kg and 110c/kg on the previous two years respectively.
These strong prices and a positive outlook for sheepmeat both domestically and on the export front also provided buyers with more confidence at this year’s spring ewe sales.
This year prices in these sales hit a high of $156, compared to last year’s season high of $132 and $115.50 in 2013 and many of the other top lines have consistently sold for more than $100.
While sheep prices remained relatively stable this year, it was the wool market that kicked significantly in comparison to previous years and gave producers plenty to smile about.
The market has been rising steadily over the past three years when the Western Market Indicators (WMI) averages are compared for the past three seasons.
In the 2012/13 season the WMI averaged 1058c/kg clean, in 2013/14 it averaged 1107c/kg and last season (2014/15) it averaged 1132c/kg, meaning it has risen 74c/kg (7 per cent) over the past three seasons.
But these small rises had nothing on the jump producers saw in May and June when the WMI reached a record level of 1428c/kg in sale F50 in the 2014/15 season, smashing the previous record of 1415c/kg set in 2011.
As a result in mid-July the gross price for a 175kg bale of 21.0 micron, good style, sound fleece wool with a 68pc yield was $1505, which was up $150 (11pc) on the same time in 2014 when a bale was worth $1355.
Prices then eased from there and while growers have experienced a roller coaster ride with prices over the past few months, they have still been significantly up on last year.
At the start of the ram selling season the WMI was at 1355c/kg for sale F07 on August 13, 2015, which was up 288c/kg or 27pc, on the same period last year when the indicator was at 1067c/kg.
However by the beginning of October, sale F14, the WMI was back at 1243c/kg but compared to the same sale last year it was up 163c/kg (15pc) from 1080c/kg.
Eventually the WMI fell to a low of 1205c/kg in sale F16 on October 15, before rising again in the last two weeks in October to 1293c/kg in sale F18 on October 29.
These prices resulted in a 185kg bale of 21 micron, 68pc yield wool with good length and strength during the September/October period being worth $1570, which was up $125 a bale on 2014.
In comparison in 2013 a bale of the same description was valued at $1400 and in 2012 it was worth $1370.
And if the average price for a bale in September/October was good, it is even better now with a bale last week worth $1615.
With more positives on their list than negatives, sheep producers certainly showed they were prepared to bid up at ram sales to grow and improve the quality of their flocks.
As a result they helped create a record breaking season for stud breeders.
This year 15,938 Merino, British, Australasian and South African breed rams were offered at sales throughout WA, with 14,234 selling at auction to gross $16,984,860 at an $1193 average and to a top of $25,000, while the clearance rate was 89pc.
In comparison last year 15,479 rams were offered and 13,872 sold for a gross of $15,299,170 at an average of $1103 and a 90pc clearance.
This means across the board 459 more rams were offered and 362 more rams were sold, while the gross was up $1,685,690 (11pc) and clearance was down one percentage point.
The overall season average of $1193 ranks as the best ever recorded and was up $90 on last year.
Compared to 2000 when we started recording sale results the average is up $496 or 71pc on that year’s average of $697, while compared to 10 years ago it is up $327 (38pc) on the 2006 season average of $866 .
In terms of gross, this year ranks as the third best since 2000 and the best in the past 10 years.
The biggest grossing year was in 2003 when 18,510 rams were offered, 17,159 sold for a gross of more than $19.5 million, a clearance of 92pc and an average of $1137.
When it comes to the number of rams offered and sold across all breeds the peak was in 2004.
This year the number of rams sold is the second largest in the past five years and the third largest in the past 10 years.
The $25,000 season top price was paid for an upstanding, two-tooth Seymour Park Poll Merino ram at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo and Sale at Katanning.
With the lamb market continuing to hum along this year at similar levels to last year, the British and Australasian breed sales again experienced the biggest jump in numbers with 436 more rams offered and 397 more sold compared to 2014.
As well as increasing numbers the British and Australasian breed sales achieved a rise in average of $107 compared to 2014, while the average for Merino sales lifted $79 and African breeds rose by $124, with both of these rises over a similar number of rams sold to 2014.
The Merino was the strongest performer recording an average of $1255, indicating producers continue to have faith in the breed that has been the backbone of the Australian sheep industry since settlement.
The African breeds averaged $1169 in total, with the UltraWhites/Cleanskins and Dohne breeds leading the way with figures of $1690 and $1261 respectively.
The British and Australasian breeds finished with an average of $1088.
Here it was the Prolific breed with an average of $1690 and the Maternal Composites averaging $1302 that were the top performers.
The biggest breeds the Poll Dorset and White Suffolk averaged $1058 and $1165 respectively.
In terms of market share the Merino breed stills holds more than 50pc of the market.
This year its market share decreased by two per cent to 56pc of the rams sold compared to 2014.
The African breeds had a market share this year of 14pc with the Dohne breed gaining two points to finish with a market share of 7pc, while the Prime SAMM and White Dorper/Dorper breeds maintained their market share of 5pc and 3pc respectively.
The British and Australasian breeds also grew their market share by one point to 30pc.
When the British and Australasian breeds market share is broken down Poll Dorsets sit at 13pc, making them the second biggest breed sold behind Merinos, White Suffolks are at 11pc (third biggest) and up from 9pc in 2014 and Suffolks at 2pc.
But when you look at the market share of the breeds on the gross figures Merino hold 59pc, British and Australasian breeds 27pc (Poll Dorset 11pc and White Suffolk 11pc), Dohne 6pc, Prime SAMM 3pc and White Dorpers/Dorpers 2pc.
The Merino, Poll Dorset, White Suffolk and Dohne breeds were the only breeds to gross more than $1 million this season.
