Texas Lamb, Goat Prices Strong
Texas lamb and goat producers are seeing positive price trends, but challenges related to higher input costs, drought and predation remain, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.
Reid Redden, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension sheep and goat specialist and director of the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center in San Angelo, said the lamb and goat markets experienced positive gains over recent weeks but that he is unsure if higher prices may signal a longer trend.
Prices had dipped from the post-pandemic gains, which were well above the previous decade’s high, he said.
In Texas, a large segment of lambs and goats are harvested at lighter weights – 40-80 pounds compared to traditional markets, where they are weaned and sent to feed yards so they may reach 140-180 pounds.
Lambs are shipped live to markets around the state and country where they are sold directly to consumers or harvested and marketed by ethnic processors. These non-traditional markets demand smaller, leaner lambs — and pay a premium for them.
“The last few years we saw strong price gains, especially in the late fall and winter months, but this year we did not,” he said. “A big part of that was the traditional sector was down, redirecting feeder lambs from the western states to the nontraditional market outlets, and imports were up.”
Texas lamb and goat prices return to normal In January 2022, lightweight market lambs were $3.60 per pound, whereas the five-year average was $2.30 per pound, Redden said. Prices over the past summer fell to the five-year average and remained there through the rest of 2022, but they have since returned toward the previous highs.
Imported lamb, which costs half the price of lightweight live lambs, has captured market share of the traditional section, which likely impacted overall premium lamb prices during their slide. Redden said COVID-19 travel restrictions likely heavily influenced higher live lamb prices because more consumers were purchasing them for traditional meals at home.
“There is a strong desire from the nontraditional outlets to buy from local processors who are buying live lambs,” he said. “But the traditional market matters, and whether it is cheaper imports or inflation, this can influence the lightweight lamb market.”