Bendigo Sheep Report

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Report Date: 31st March 2025

Total Yarding: 18,950

Commentary

Similar supply at 12850 lambs and 6100 sheep. Start the report with sheep as heavy mutton surged in price to give the market something we haven’t seen for a couple of years now – ewes over $200/head. A pen of bare shorn extra heavy Merino ewes topped the mutton run at $225 while big meat ewes reached $222/head. Price outcomes for lamb were more mixed and it is worth noting the market very much played out around quality; hard grain-fed lambs selling better than the washy grassy types; and shorter skinned lambs were favoured over longer wools. One auctioneer made the comment ‘the more skin the less money’ in carcass price terms. Heavy fed lambs above 30kg cwt were firm to $6/head dearer reaching a top of $289/head. It was the tradeweight lamb categories which showed the most price variance, and nearly all categories recorded cheaper averages compared to last week’s offering which had both better quality stock and more buyer demand at the top-end. Not all export buyers were fully active today, while domestic buyers didn’t show the same intensity for numbers. Broadly, crossbred fell into two price ranges – the best presented and hard fed types from 780c to 845c/kg cwt; plainer lambs off grass with less carcass finish or in untidy skins from 720c to 770c/kg cwt.

Heavy export lambs sold from $243 to $289/head and the market did strengthen towards the end of the auction for a ballpark average of 790c/kg, with some neat pens of 30kg plus fed lambs to 830c/kg. The heavy 26-30kg cwt lambs varied from $207 to $237/head and once again the trend of the best pens at 800c plus but plainer types at 750c plus was evident. Heavy trade lambs $182 to $210/head. Main run of mixed 22-24kg crossbred lambs $168 to $205 and showed the widest carcass price spread of the sale based around quality. Store buyers did step into trade lambs with frame but lacking fat cover at $150 to $168/head. Not a lot of quality Merinos but the best trades were well supported at $170 to $213/head dearer reaching to be similar to average crossbreds in c/kg price terms. Light lambs also had mixed results, the smallest types to restockers tending to be dearer at $70 to $132 as dollar per head buying kicked in.

Mutton was the talking point of the market, good lines of heavy mutton costing processors between 460c to 550c/kg. Any big crossbred ewes were well supported by exporters at $160 to a top of $222/head to trend over 500c/kg cwt. A pen of extra heavy bare shorn Merino ewes estimated around 38-40kg cwt topped at $225/head. Most of the better Merino ewes with some wool from $135 to $180/head. Lighter sheep were also dearer but not to the same extent as the heavier mutton. Plainer trade and light sheep mostly $54 to $110/head.

Market reporter Jenny Kelly