Lamb’s winter sizzle
HIGH returns for lambs of up to 700c/kg should remain through winter as the season stalls supplies of suckers.
And the insatiable demand for Australia’s sheepmeat will only put more pressure on dwindling lamb offerings.
Lambs hit $232 at Bendigo on Monday but it was demand for tradeweights that helped lift the price average to 670c/kg, according to the National Livestock Reporting Service.
It quoted a $15 rise in rates due to strong processor demand, with prices breaking through 700c/kg on occasions.
The Eastern States Trade Lamb Indicator closed on Monday at 647c/kg, while the heavy lamb indicator finished at 645c/kg. The merino lamb indicator is sitting above 600c/kg, having closed at 609c/kg.
Elders Bendigo key livestock manager Dusty Miller said lamb prices should remain high as the tough season held back supplies of suckers.
“We have had clients who usually might have suckers at the end of June and it will be more like August this year before those lambs come into the market,” Mr Miller said.
“July and August are a time that processors traditionally rely on suckers but they won’t be there this year.”
Mr Miller said he did not expect prices to fall from here.
“There is a lot of confidence in the lamb market at the moment,” he said.
Corowa’s lamb sale on Monday had a similar dearer trend, with Corcoran Parker Corowa manager Clynton Rixon quoting it $6-8 higher.
His clients are also running late with their supply of suckers, as a lack of rain meant grazing crops were not offering the early feed supplies needed to turn off young lambs in midwinter.
“My feeling is that prices will hold and maybe not get a lot dearer,” Mr Rixon said.
“If producers can supply good trade lambs now, they will definitely be rewarded.”
Meat and Livestock Australia will today release its analysis of lamb markets, which will show lamb prices have been supported by strong export and processor demand.
That demand has absorbed higher slaughter rates swelled by dry conditions, with almost 43,200 tonnes of sheepmeat exported in May.
Figures to May show 117,000 tonnes of lamb and mutton have been exported, up 14 per cent on last year. Major customers the Middle East, China and the US have all taken more sheepmeat.