Markets
40 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021 NI BULL
SI STEER
NI MUTTON
($/KG)
($/KG)
($/KG)
4.90
4.60
4.80
TWO-YEAR HEREFORD-FRIESIAN STEERS, 530KG AVERAGE, AT TARANAKI CATTLE FAIR ($/KG LW)
2.95
$600-$660 high $243 2-tooth Romney ewes Weaner Friesian bulls, lights Top 182-219kg, at Feilding at Stortford Lodge Ewe
Dairy-Beef Weaner Fair
Fair
Lamb sales fetch decent premium Annette Scott
T
annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz
HE struggle to keep lambs through until mid-January has been worth it for farmers in the Mackenzie Basin selling at on-farm sales this week, with lambs fetching a good premium on pre-Christmas values. While the dry weather has been challenging in what is described as one of the most difficult seasons in 30 years, farmers reaped the benefit of managing their lambs through until the annual on-farm lamb sales. Rain over the Christmas-New Year period has been the saving grace. “This would have to be one of the most trying seasons in 30 years, it’s only turned around in the past two to three weeks and all credit to the farmers who have managed to bring these lambs to sale in the condition they have,” PGG Wrightson livestock manager Joe Higgins said. “It’s been very challenging, and we appreciate the way these lambs have come to condition in the trying conditions of this season.” The Mackenzie on-farm run sold lambs at The Grampians, Streamlands, Maryburn and Simon’s Hill stations. While the rain arrived too late, The Grampians farm manager Lindsay Paton and owners the Hope Family, who have farmed The Grampians since 1914, were satisfied they achieved the best they could. “It’s been a very strange and difficult season but while less than an average sale, under the circumstances, we have to be happy with the result,” Henry Hope said. “I’m pleased with the way the lambs came in, it was so dry November and
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LAST CALL: PGW auctioneer Rod Sands takes the final bid of the day at The Grampians. Photos: Annette Scott
December, it was very difficult,” Paton added. Farm manager Joe White says because of the dry Streamlands, lambs were put out earlier this year. “We just had to, we couldn’t see our way clear to keep them on into March,” White said. “It’s been a positive sale, I’m pretty happy. The market on the day, at all four sales, fetched above $3/kg, up 20 cents or more on pre-Christmas sales. “These lambs will go well on the green clover of the Canterbury pastures where the majority of the lambs were headed,” Higgins said. On-farm lamb sales in North Otago also reflected the 150-200ml of rain over the New Year period, livestock agent Gerard Shea said. The Nicholson sale was a strong sale, despite one of the tougher springs many farmers have ever been through. The tops of the run fetched $111 with smaller lambs down to $50, but
all 2200 lambs sold averaged $3/kg and were up 20-30c on pre-Christmas values. “The lambs were good considering the season they have come through, the agents and the vendors were happy,” Shea said. At Surrey Hills in the Ashburton high country, one of the best yardings ever of the annual sale went under the hammer on Thursday, PGW livestock area manager Greg Cook said. A total 5500 Romney, black face and Suffolk-cross lambs were offered, with male lambs selling from $93-$148 and ewe lambs $91-$131, with a sale average of $106.75 at $3.20/kg. “It was a very pleasing sale overall, the big difference being we didn’t see the massive premium for the ewe lambs as we did last year,” Cooke said. “The buyer gallery was pretty much all regular buyers back for what they know are good quality, well-bred lambs, with the bulk of them going on to the Canterbury Plains pastures.”
EARLY ORDER
ACROSS THE RAILS SUZ BREMNER
Ewe fairs give insight to market EWE fairs were approached with an element of trepidation this season and no one was prepared to play a betting game on how they would go. Most people were in agreement that they could not be as good as year ago levels, given that those prices were some of the best seen. Too much hypothetical muddy water had passed under the bridge in 2020 for that to happen, though in some regions it was the notable lack of muddy water that added either caution or optimism to this market, depending on what side of the fence you were on. By that I mean some thought the need to replace ewes and other livestock sold during the drought would help this market, but the water was muddied by covid-19 and its impact on international markets and subsequently farm gate prices. So, it was almost with a sigh of relief that the ewe fair season got underway and farmers could start to set benchmarks on ewe prices, whether it was to sell at upcoming fairs or to gauge the value of those at home. To date, ewe fair action has been centred along the east coast of the North Island, as Stortford Lodge kicked off the fairs prior to Christmas, and Matawhero and Dannevirke got in on the action in the first week of sales for 2021. These areas of course were very dry and that had a mixed impact on numbers at these early fairs. Stortford Lodge volume grew to nearly 12,000 as farmers chose to offload early rather than hold off for the later fairs. That gave a false sense of supply and even though the next fair at Stortford Lodge will have over 13,000 that is a far cry from the 21,000 offered in 2020. Matawhero and Dannevirke numbers were more in line with expected outcomes as both fairs offered up only half the previous year’s tallies. Prices for most classes were well back on last year, but for the majority held resiliently enough that they were better than any sales prior to 2018. One highlight to date has been the strength of the five-year market as it appears that buyer preference is for older, proven ewes to put more lambs on the ground. At Dannevirke, prices for most annual draft lines only trailed 2020 by $10-$20 per head and one consignment bettered the 2020 offering. It is still only early days for these fairs with plenty more calendared in the next month and there is still more of this story to tell, but overall the fairs have got off to a better than expected start. suz.bremner@globalhq.co.nz
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