According to Meat and Livestock Australia’s National Livestock Reporting Service lamb numbers were steady and the quality was mixed.

There were plenty of light store lambs and a few good trade weights but good heavy lambs were limited. Most of the new season lambs were dry in the skin, and the few that were not, received a premium. Shorn lambs lifted in numbers, but there still remain in short supply. The market was cheaper on most.

New season restocking lambs sold $80 to $118 and eased $12/head on plainer lambs. Trade weights were back $3 to $7 selling from $130 to $154/head averaging around 650c with the well-presented lambs up to 700c/kg. Heavy lambs sold from $153 to $170 with an excellent pen of extra heavy lambs reaching $216/head to average 725c/kg.

The better end of the shorn trade lambs sold from $137 to $154 averaging 680c and heavy weights reached $177/head. Merino hoggets were well supplied and eased $5 with the heavier trade weights $93 to $120/head.

Mutton numbers lifted and the quality was fair. There were plenty of light and medium weights penned. Prices eased $4 to $6 on the lighter sheep and lifted up to $2 to $3/head on the heavier and better covered lines. Light 1 score sheep sold from $30 to $72/head. Medium weight ewes ranged from $78 to $118/head. Heavy crossbreds sold from $110 to $157 and Merinos with a skin reached $148/head. Merino wethers sold to $114/head bare shorn.

Carcase prices averaged 410c to 440c/kg cwt.