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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 27, 2020
Arable farmers wary of lambs Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz A LACK of certainty in the market has Mid Canterbury cropping farmers cautious about stocking up with their normal quota of store lambs. Federated Farmers arable vice chairman Brian Leadley said market uncertainty means cropping farmers are not confident to buy in the usual numbers of winter finishing lambs. “Most farmers are still buying in some lambs but in pairing up operating costs to secure an income for next year there’s a lot of unknown so cutting back in lamb numbers comes for a multitude of reasons. “Talking to farmers it’s looking like there’ll be up to 30% less lambs coming onto Mid Canterbury cropping farms this season,” Leadley said. Where 10,000 lambs might have been the order of the day that is now more likely to be 7000-8000, amounting to tens of thousands of lambs that will not find a home in Mid Canterbury this season. “While it’s dry here there is feed available, masked by irrigation, but there’s not quite the same abundance of feed
FEWER MOUTHS: Mid Canterbury arable farmer Brian Leadley says the number of store lambs going on to cropping farms will be down significantly this season. Photo: Annette Scott
and given the huge uncertainty in lamb markets there are other options for farmers to consider.” Market value is of concern as the schedule for lamb continues to drop because of weak international demand. Kill sheets are reading about the $6.45 a kilogram mark with a further 15c cut signalled for this week, bringing pricing 6070 cents behind the same time last year.
Farmers are also nervous given the lack of processing assurance to get lambs off farms in time for spring cropping. “The past couple of seasons there’s been good markets for heavier 21-27kg lambs and with meat companies not able to give signals around pricing there’s real concern where these markets might sit in three to four months’ time.” Most cropping farmers rely
on a winter income. They are doing their budgets and it is very risky with the amount of capital involved in lambs, Leadley said. “Yes, it’s been a good harvest but there’s no immediate cashflow as it’s sitting in seed stores and silos not yet converted into cash. “Buying in store lambs is expensive and the banks are putting the brakes on.” As a result, more earlier winter wheat and barley crops are being planted with selling grazing also an option farmers are pondering. Leadley acknowledged the lesser number of lambs going into Mid Canterbury will have a knock-on effect. “Many of these lambs at this time of the season are coming from Southland so there will be a knock-on effect down the chain for farmers in these regions getting rid of the last of their store lambs.” But it’s not a case of not wanting lambs forever. “This is not about a massive lack of appetite from farmers wanting to do lambs. It’s about balancing the budget in the environment in which we are currently operating.”
Some yards will see action SOME selling will return to certain sale yards under level three but a return to normal is still some time away. New Zealand Farmers Livestock said it will resume selling livestock at Frankton, Stratford and Rongotea. Those yards already have livestream facilities operational and general manager Bill Sweeney said farmers will be able to actively participate and bid at livestock auctions streamed live from those yards as well as some on-farm auctions. The Frankton sale yards will host the first sale on Wednesday with dates also set for Stratford and Rongotea. “We are also looking to roll it out to other sale yards associated with NZ Farmers Livestock, such as Stortford Lodge through Redshaw Livestock.” The Ministry for Primary Industries’ regulations for level three say stock sales are permitted but the public must not attend. Carrfields livestock general manager Donald Baines said “While we respect the position that New Zealand Farmers Livestock have taken we are seeking greater clarification from MPI before proceeding as there are still too many grey areas.” PGG Wrightson general manager Peter Moore said “Our number one priority is to help eradicate covid-19 and to try and run a traditional sale under level three would be very difficult when having to adhere to such restrictions as social distancing.”
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