Analyst Intel Archives

DRY on-farm conditions in some areas and a big yarding of stock led to a soft sale of in-lamb ewes at Temuka on Wednesday.

About 9500 ewes were up for sale compared with the normal number of about 3500 to 4000 expected at this time of year, PGG Wrightson agent Rod Sands said. 

Capital stock added to the tally and the number of five- and six-shear annual draft ewes was higher than previously.

Nearly 2000 capital stock ewes yarded sold well with younger ewes fetching up to $240 each but that trade affected the annual draft ewes.

A pen of 113 good quality, younger, in-lamb Romney ewes made $224 a head but generally that part of the sale topped out at $200, with a lot of sales above $180 for ewes with good condition and teeth. 

Word of strong prices for lambs at auction is spreading like wildfire and is responsible for larger than normal volumes trading through the sale yards at this time of year. It is more obvious in the North Island where plenty of lamb fatteners call home in Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay and the yards in these areas have been overflowing. Store lamb volume has been consistently high since late March and there has been little let-up to date.

Go to 5:50 to hear AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad on the global beef markets.

July has snuck up on us and while it is still very early days a little bit of life has sprung back into the store cattle market as a relatively mild June brings farmers closer to the promise of spring despite few regions having any significant rain till recently.

Go to 5:30 to hear AgriHQ senior analyst Suz Bremner talk more on the sale yards around the country.

Go to 6:45 to hear Agri-HQ senior analyst Suz Bremner talk more on the sale-yards around the country.

Farmgate sheep and beef prices are on the rise as documented in the latest AgriHQ Livestock Outlook report. 

For lamb this is nothing new with prices lifting higher week-on-week since bottoming out in late March. The supply of lambs into processing plants dropped well below normal in the last six weeks, catching many by surprise. Overseas market demand has underpinned price rises at the farmgate with procurement merely a spectator. Farmgate prices look set to follow trends witnessed through winter last year, thereby peaking in late September before starting their descent to Christmas.

Store lambs are still the focus at most yards and volume continues to be high enough to attract a steady flow of buyers.

The sale yards have, however, shifted into the next phase of the store lamb selling season. As the days get shorter and feed levels tighten up, the need to look after ewes means any lambs left are shipped out the gate. PGG Wrightson agent Jonty Hyslop says “Now that we are getting toward the end of the lambs we are seeing everything, warts and all. Quality is compromised as most vendors can’t fatten any more and are offloading.”

Breeding bull sales are in full swing and are a great show of the diversity of breeds New Zealand now has on offer.
Gone are the days of being able to buy only Angus or Hereford.

Go to 6.35 to hear Agri-HQ senior analyst Mel Croad talk about the latest in global beef markets.