Farmers who have managed to keep their stock going through the drought are being rewarded, with livestock agents labelling the lamb market as strong as it has ever been.
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On Wednesday morning at the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange (CTLX) near Carcoar, Kevin Miller, Whitty, Lennon and Co agent Sam Clarke said he saw some lambs sell for anywhere between $8 to $10 per kilogram.
“Back five, six years ago, if you got $6 a kilogram or a little below that for lamb, you would be getting a really good sale,” he said.
“With how the market is at the moment, it’s a really good time to be in the industry, to see the good prices and clients being rewarded for their hard work.”
Agents agree that the great prices for lambs is simply through demand, from processors and foreign exports.
READ MORE: Sheep fire sale as farmers battle drought
Landmark Bathurst agent Marcus Schembri said the best pens for killable lambs sold for $255 a pen on Wednesday.
“Prices for killable lambs are continuing to be strong,” he said.
“Good trade weight lambs were making $160 to $190.
“The lamb market is as strong as it’s ever been. We’ve never seen it this strong. It’s purely on buyer demand.”
However, the restocking market is performing poorly due to a lack of grazing-able paddocks according to McCarron Cullinane agent Nick Doulman.
“The restocking market is just not there,” he said.
“There's no one getting enough hay and no one wants to buy feed. And we don't know when we're getting out of this drought.”
On Wednesday, yarding was down at CTLX by 1890 from the previous week on August 15, with 2760 lambs sold and 1150 sheep sold.
There were odd pens of well finished trade lambs, along with a few pens of heavy weights.
Light weight lambs to the processors were $4 cheaper, with the 12 to 18 kilogram two scores making from $64 to $120 per head.
Trade weight for old lambs were $5 per head cheaper, with quality a factor and the 18 to 23 kilogram three scores sold from $120 to $190 per head.
Trade weight for new season lambs were $7 dearer, making from $150 to $160 per head, for an average of 820 cents per hundredweight.
Lambs to the feeder were dearer, making from $106 to $128 per head.
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