RMA Network CEO Chris Howie.

A LACK of heavy lambs and quality is holding lamb pricing up and there seems to be a growing demand for light lambs and store lambs attracting the attention of improvers and feedlots.

September and October traditionally see a softening in price as spring supply increases. Localised price movements can be impacted by numbers, but generally the overall trend is relatively consistent.

Mutton prices generally slip from now on as lamb takes priority for kill space, but looking at the export numbers mutton demand is still very strong.

Some sheep and mutton insights from MLA market information analyst Emily Tan, include that the sheep market has generally eased over the past month, while prices have lifted in the past week for all indicators except the mutton indicator. Sheep yardings have lifted by 4 percent while lamb yardings eased by 5.5pc to 243,556 head during September.

Market reports have emphasised the larger number of lighter lambs coming to market. Store lambs lifted by 17pc or 5337 head to 28,244. Despite increase supply, the light lamb price grew by 51 cents to 646c/kg cwt. The mutton indicator eased by 5 cents to 285c/kg cwt, with prices easing, except in Victoria where prices lifted by 33 cents.

At Ballarat, Forbes, Dubbo, Bendigo and Horsham saleyards, mutton sold for above 300c/kg cwt, while mutton at Wagga struggled to break the 300c/kg mark. Processor demand for mutton remains strong given the record level of sheep slaughter. Lamb slaughter has remained below 2023 slaughter figure as we have seen prices double since last year.

Last week (Week ending 27 September) slaughter sat at 376,666 head, a 46,769 head reduction from last week, marking it the lowest lamb slaughter since July 2023.

In a single month, sheep slaughter reached the largest weekly sheep slaughter for three consecutive weeks at 212,613 head, 221,353 head and 223,391 head (15 Sep – 29 Sep). Marking it the largest sheep slaughter since 2019.

Victoria slaughter is tracking strong at 60,013 head (22 Sep) and 66,183 head (29 Sep). NSW also had the second largest weekly sheep slaughter (94,993 head for week ending 29 Sep) since the drought.

Tom Madden of TB White & Sons at Ballarat said the season is not lending itself to large numbers of quality lambs in the near future. Corey Nicholson of Holman and Tolmie in Cootamundra said they are getting to the end of the lambs now with the majority of operations being spring lambing.

Andrew McIllree from DMD Agents at Nhill said the Kaniva and districts annual sheep sale on 10 October with Stuart Kyle, Westech Ag Kyle Livestock, Kaniva will yard 5000. The line-up will still be of excellent quality and well worth getting an order for. Due to season and price, many of the 4.5 and 5.5 year-old ewes were sold a couple of months ago returning $120-$140 to the processor. Smart business all round.

On auction terms and conditions

Over the years I have fielded many questions from producers, agents and buyers, normally after the sale, about the auction terms and conditions referred to at the beginning of each agent’s sale run.

It may not interest all, but the underlying message is, irrespective of how you buy or sell, terms and conditions do apply to every form of transaction whether written or in common law. Truthfully, it is probably better that anyone operating at a sale yard vendor, auctioneer, agent, buyer reads them.

‘Owners’ risk’ refers to an animal that the auctioneer has no way of determining an internal condition or ailment – cancer, sheep measles etc and deemed not fit for human consumption. This condemnation only applies to processors buying, not traders. The selling agent must be supplied with a government vet condemnation certificate within seven days for this animal not to be paid for by the processor, which is then deducted from the vendor sale proceeds and cannot be claimed on transit insurance. However, a buyer is responsible for bruising, fever, partial condemnation or emaciation if they have taken delivery of the animal and are not able to refuse payment.

Fit to load issues about the ability of an animal to make the trip to an abattoir seem to be popping up more. If any animal within the sale process from farm to processor is identified that it is not ‘fit to load’ it should not be loaded, offered for sale or purchased. The ‘fit to load’ regulations are very clear, with fines applied to all within the chain of responsibility.

Seed in lamb skins becoming an issue at some yards. An auctioneer under the terms and conditions does not warrant the animals sold.  However, if the vendor or agent are aware of a potential seed issue it must be announced, allowing buyers to make their own adjustments. For example, if the first  load was identified at works for seed and the rest have been sent to the yards. The auctioneer, if they are aware, is required to announce “lambs have been noted with seed, please make your own adjustments.” Orders for seed lambs operate at all yards, but they exclude some high-end international export orders.

Online livestock sale passed-in rates and reserves

I’ve noted the passed-in rate on AuctionsPlus seems to be an industry indicator for the success of a sale. If the passed-in rate goes up it seems negative commentary amongst agents and vendors appears as though it is the fault of the platform. Looking at the various reports, the question is not the platform, but who is setting the reserve prices?

Many of the best agents assess, list and sell in one sweep with a 90-100pc success rate. However, way too many agents are under a 50pc success rate, which is directly aligned to the reserve price set. It doesn’t mean the assessment is incorrect, but it does mean the conversation with the farmer about price needs to be better and based on fact not hope. Producers also have a part to play in this and need to read the season and gather information about the market. Putting a high reserve on in hope and passing them in means you have the livestock on property for another week with a market that maybe falling. Reserves should always be set at what you are willing to accept not what you are hoping for.

Around the traps – Can we still say that in today’s woke world?

Chelsea Rayner at Webb and Woodiwiss Livestock Marketing in Tasmania gave me a quick update.

Chelsea said Tasmania had a lot of rain four weeks ago that really kicked all of the state’s markets along pretty well. Grass started growing and soon pushed store prices – particularly for cattle — to highs not seen for a long time. Many lines of well-bred yearlings that had weight made upwards of $4/kg, a lot sitting around $4.20-$4.60/kg. Heifers of similar breeding and weight groups making $3.60-$4/kg.

She said since the rain there has been a lot of wind and a handful of sunny days, as well as the price flushing a few more cattle out. At the Powranna store sale last week the combined agents yarded about 1300 cattle, with better bred lines of steers still making $3.80-$4/kg, reduced quality and weight prices eased back to $3.30-$3.80/kg. Good lines of heifers made $3.50-$4/kg, with the next run of heifers making $3-$3.50/kg.

Chelsea said the lamb and mutton market still seems to be holding well for the time of year, and is starting to get to the tail-end, with these later lambs receiving competition from restockers and producers, depending on the weight and quality. There are not many new season lambs about, but what has been seen are looking fresh and presenting well given the seasonal conditions of the last three months. The forecast for some rain the next week is looking promising so hopefully this will keep feed and markets ticking along pretty well.

Nick Hall Adcock and Partners at Walcha has covered some country over the past month with two weeks in Broome with a live export order then returning to a balmy 6 degrees Celsius at Walcha. The season is good in the New England with cattle and lambs stacking on weight and feeders being the main focus off crop. Quilpie is in full sale mode for sheep and cattle as the west starts to dry off and the Kimberley and the Territory are finalising last sales before the expected wet, even though it has been very hot.

Western Australia has copped a rain that was very timely and looks to have set their spring up according to Clint Wardle, livestock manager for WestCoast Rural. All South Australian agents I spoke to say the season is driving an “unload now” mindset north of Keith, following lack of rain and a significant frost event. In the mid-north many sheep have been put on crops with paddock feed and surface water at a premium. Plenty of store lambs are on the market, with many producers doing a great job of preparing them for sale with a bit of supplementary feeding to keep them fresh before sale. The SA pastoral country is in good heart and even buying some stock back in.

Beef and the EU delays deforestation regulation

I made mention a couple of months ago about the pending European Union deforestation reporting requirements and the difficulties these would present to the EU supply chain. Cattle Australia chief executive officer Chris Parker said it is good to report success, especially when peak bodies and both sides of government work together. In short, this collaborative approach has secured another 12 months breathing space to ensure the requirements of the EU and the supply from Australia can be aligned. Beer all round for those involved and well done to Cattle Australia.

This outcome strengthens my view that agricultural discussions should always be bi-partisan and aligned to positive outcomes strengthening the Australian agriculture sector as a cornerstone of our National success. Putting a veto on agricultural issues being used for election preference deals to capture inner city seats would be a great next step.

New sale success

It is always good to see a new sale appear. Alex Scott and Staff ran their first store cattle sale at Yea in September yarding 1100 cattle. Local and northern buyers competed strongly with the community response very positive around this investment in the district. Steers made from $3.85/kg on the heavies to $4.50/kg in the 350-400kg liveweight space, with heifers selling very well from $3.30-$3.90/kg. In the main selling season this now means Yea provides an alternate venue every fortnight easing some pressure on the Leongatha and southern yards that are running at capacity with the closure of Pakenham.

Weaner sale setup

The November, December and January beef weaner sales are approaching very quickly in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Many of the calves had some significant seasonal pressure applied during the winter. Rick Smith at Nutrien at Casterton said he is comfortable the numbers are still available for the feature sales, but the weight will be back on last year. For buyers who target specific lines at these sales each year it may be worth making a call to confirm the sale program of some vendors. Matt Treglown at TDC Penola noted the Naracoorte and Mt Gambier weaner sales are some of the first to kick off in November and will provide excellent opportunities for the north to buy quality calves not carrying the condition or weight of the last few years.

Cattle market insights from MLA market information analyst Emily Tan include that it has moved sideways over the past week and month. Yardings haved eased by 10,884 to 66,522 head (6 October) with yardings lifting by 8pc to total 269,162 head in September. Rainfall across NSW/ Victorian border right through to Queensland did very little to aid any price improvement.

Cattle slaughter has been stable over the past month, with weekly slaughter remaining at around 140,000 head.

Indicating the steady supply of processor-ready cattle is the National Livestock Reporting Service putting the Q3 cattle slaughter at 1,811,802 head, a 6pc increase from the last quarter. Queensland slaughter has continued to lift steadily hitting the second largest weekly slaughter at 74,982 head in the last four years in the second week of October (Week ending 13 September).

Based on this trend, Q3 2024 slaughter is on track to surpass Q2 slaughter numbers at 2,117,200 head. This could represent the highest quarterly kill in five years.

BeefEx

BeefEx is the Australian Feed Lot Associations flagship event and fires up on 1517 October in Brisvegas.

This will be the second one I will attend and if the presentations are equal to last time, it will be an outstanding event. The networking opportunities and friendships re-joined are always good. Happy to chat if you are there.

Opportunities

 Continue to take the money on anything that is finished – Cows, feeders, lambs, ewes and goats.

 Take the time to do a feed map and work out how long the feed will last – don’t guess.

 Do the sums before holding steers to make them heavier – they eat a lot of feed.

 Store lambs – buy quality.

 Seems to be plenty of sheep in the wool available.

 Old ewes and cows – sell sell sell

 Set your reserves to sell first time