Today, lambs are selling down at $4.50 to $4.60 per kilo dressed weight, not due to an oversupply but simply because lambs are scarce so the totals being yarded are down.
“Any lambs that farmers have available should be shorn and taken through to sell towards the end of Feb or early autumn” says Paul Breen. “With forward contracts available for around $5 a kilo, I would recommend that farmers take up this offer and put them on grain to fatten them up, they’ll need to weigh around 24-26 kilos.”
Paul reports that the cattle market has taken a dive recently, with feeder cattle up to 400kgs suffering a 35c a kilo drop- “there are a lot of feed lots full currently and the really heavy export market has eased 25 to 30 cents a kilo over the last month.’
On a positive note, Paul said, “harvest is just about to begin, crops are estimated to yield very well and we are looking at a good hay season – supply of supplementary feed should be plentiful.’
By Cheryl Newsom