Almost $4 million went through the Deniliquin Saleyards Friday last week, with the Deniliquin spring store sheep sale generating a lot of interest.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
More would have gone through various local businesses, with a huge crowd of sellers, buyers and spectators boosting numbers in the Deniliquin CBD on the day.
The wet conditions the night before the sale made for muddy conditions, which made showing off the sheep a little harder, but Elders Deniliquin agent Jason Andrews said it helped boost farmer numbers.
“We had a good crowd, with a lot of farmers coming in without anything else to do in the rain,” he said.
“The sale was above expectation by about $20 or $30 (per head) across the board, although not quite so much with wethers.”
Nutrien auctioneer Marc Braybon said a combination of factors had probably fed into the dearer trend at Deniliquin.
Among them was the dearer trend being recorded for heavy lambs at prime markets and some modest gains in the wool market.
But he said in his opinion, people had probably had time after recent sales to sit down and do their sums and realise young sheep were representing good value.
"All this rain is probably a little bit (of the stronger trend), but I reckon it was sheep at the price rates they were, looked very cheap and there has been some realisation of that," he said.
Meat Livestock Australia market reporter Jenny Kelly said the result at Deniliquin made it one of the strongest Merino sales held in the Riverina this season.
“While the very top Merino ewes might not have been much dearer at a peak of $209, the market pushed up underneath with the general run of young ewes quoted as $20 to $30 per head dearer than the subdued outcomes recorded at Hay and Jerilderie,” she said in her post sale report.
“Highlighting the change in demand sentiment was the fact a reasonable number of older five year-old Merino ewes sold back to restockers as they beat out meat buyers.
“This is in stark contrast to the likes of Jerilderie where nearly all the old ewes were claimed by export mutton processors.
“The other change was much quicker bidding, with the crowd willing to step forward and generally offer reasonable price starts, rather than the low-balling and hang-and-drag tempo which has been the hallmark of recent store Merino ewes.”
Ms Kelly reported the top price across the 38,000 head yarding was $209 for the second pen of young Merino ewes sold — 340 head from vendor Cumbagunda which were May 2023 drop, Poll Boonooke blood and August shorn.
Not far behind was the lead of the Mooloomoon ewes, the 406 June/July 2023 drop and Goolgumbla blood selling for $203.
The feature dispersal of Andrew and Louise Burge's Merino ewes from their Prairie Home Station at Deniliquin sold to a top of $180 for the lead pen of the 2023 drop maidens, while the 2.5 year olds sold to $158 and the four year olds to $168. The ewes were all One Oak blood and September shorn.
"It was a big decision to disperse these ewes, but we are pretty happy as it seems a lot better sale than Jerilderie and Hay. Prices were better than I expected," Mr Burge told Ms Kelly.
Most of the young 2023 drop ewes sold from $110 to $180/head, and while it might seem a lot of money on paper some of the ewes were small and light, and it was the tail-end of the market which arguably experienced the biggest price rises.
Some key results out of the 2023 drop ewes, provided by Ms Kelly, included:
• Trigg: 410 Dohne ewes, May/June 2023 drop, August shorn, $181
• Abbotsford: 540 Merino ewes, April/May 2023 drop, August shorn, $180; 463 at $170
• Karinya: 318 Meirno ewes, May/June 2023 drop, August shorn, $164
• North Run: 398 Merino ewes at $180; 160 at $130
• Spring Plains: 359 ewes, June/July 2023 drop, September shorn, $174
• Corona: 366 ewes at $174; and
• Mutooroo: 638 ewes at $168.
“Buyers did focus on sheep size and frame, and prices did favour the better grown ewes which were plainer bodied for joining to meat rams this November,” Ms Kelly reported.
“The younger ewes at $110 to $140 were often judged to have sold strongly on size and quality.
“The older five year old ewes mostly were $70 to $120, and again there were some strong sales that were a good $20 clear of current mutton returns”
Buying activity was described as “widespread” to include the Riverina, Bendigo, Benalla, Euroa, Wagga Wagga, Corowa, Lake Carjellico and Swan Hill.
• Out & About at the store sale, page 6.
Newspaper