May 2011
NEWS: DOLLAR crunch: THE soaring Australian dollar has pushed key exporters to the limit, with livestock prices quickly losing their sizzle in post-Easter sales this week.
As the dollar burst through the US110-cent barrier this week, the immediate impact of the rising exchange rate was being felt at weekly sheep and cattle markets across Victoria.
SHEEP: COMPETITION for first-cross ewe and Merino ewe lambs was hot at the Bendigo special sheep sale last Wednesday (April 27) with first-cross ewe lambs selling to $200.
Agents opened the sale saying a tidy line up of sheep was being offered and prices confirmed this.
Ben Long sold 112 April/May drop Border Leicester Merino ewe lambs to $200, snapped up by an Ararat buyer.
Not far behind was JJ Osborne, Dingee, who sold 106 May/June 10-drop BLM ewe lambs to $196.
Also prominent in the first-cross ewe lambs was Terralea Farms, which sold 125 at $194.
Prices were also strong in the Merino ewe section with Sunrise selling 140 Merino ewe lambs June/July 10-drop to $152.
The Supple family, St Arnaud, also sold well with a run of 286 lambs May/June-drop hitting $146.
Opening the sale and topping the market for the day was AL&KM Picktall, St Arnaud, selling a run of 331 first-cross ewe Aug/Sept 09-drop and SIL 114 per cent to $246.
CATTLE: THE average price of 280-350 kilogram heifers outpaced those of similar weight steers in a larger than expected yarding of 2330 head at the Warrnambool monthly store cattle sale last Friday.
The heifers in this weight range averaged 255 cents and the steers 241c.
While the record liveweight rates achieved at the previous sale were not matched on Friday, Warrnambool agents secretary Gerald Madden said vendors were, nonetheless, well rewarded for their adherence to breeding quality in the overall presentation, which was highly evident in this annual sale featuring large lines of joinable age heifers.
