For producers looking to take advantage of market conditions, opportunity will continue to knock on the door at physical markets despite flooding in the north and existing staffing shortages across the livestock sector.
Unstable weather conditions are being experienced across most of the eastern seaboard and the deluge of rain has caused major complications for some primary producers.
North-western NSW has struggled to put livestock on trucks with conditions so wet it will take several weeks to dry out.
Sheep graziers are also besieged with fly strike problems in both NSW and Victoria.
Adding to the mix, rain has produced magnificent stands of dry land Lucerne which is enabling producers to hold lambs and push their weight over the next few weeks.
A lamb buyer who operates across NSW markets said from Forbes, NSW, to Coonamble, NSW, the country had never looked better, and summer crops are plentiful.
He added there were plans afoot for restockers to be present and active at up-and-coming lamb sales and expected the northern restocking contingent to be strong looking to bolster numbers.
Victorian restockers have been active for months and have lifted market prices at the lighter end.
The unstable weather conditions have had a positive impact at Wagga Wagga, NSW, lamb market with prices for store lambs $20 dearer.
Further south, Victoria markets remained unchanged for weight and frame.
However, lamb prices started to fluctuate this week as summer hit the halfway mark, with fewer stock locked into forward contracts and buyer participation sometimes patchy.
Good-quality domestic lambs were cheaper at the Bendigo saleyards on Monday, with heavy export lambs reaching a top of $276 a head.
On the heavy export front, finding containers and people to load vessels is likely to work against lamb export values into 2022.
This comes as saleyard heavy lamb prices tracked cheaper in all markets on Monday.
The mutton market hit a major hurdle, with buyers not prepared to chase prices to last week's levels.
This is despite the increase of sheep being available.
Prices dipped up to $23 at Ballarat's lamb market on Tuesday was on a roll with rates lifting $3 to $10 in a bigger yarding of 24,120 sheep.
Well-finished trade lambs were keenly sought with lambs weighing 22-24 kilograms averaging 832 cents a kilogram carcase weight.
Heavy lambs were in limited supply which pushed rates $10 higher to average 847c/kg cwt.
Store lambs and lambs suitable to feed on remain a hot-ticket item and topped at $226.
Light weight young lambs made from $115 to $163.
- Leann Dax is an NLRS market reporter.
