Market Talk - Lamb and mutton prices holding up

LAMB and mutton prices continue to create headlines and in particular mutton where prices fluctuate week to week with buyers trying to sort out where the floor will be.

This week we have seen sheep prices improve $10 to $30/head recovering last week’s losses as there is now definite proof that there is a general shortage of mutton in Eastern Australia and although the season is terrible in many parts it is thought that most of the destocking has already taken place.

At Powranna on Tuesday we saw 1,954 mutton penned and prices for heavy sheep improved $40 to $50 for heavy pens and $5 to $15 for lighter types.

Extra heavy sheep made $200 to $220, heavy $160 to $190, medium $106 to $168, light $68 to $118 and very light $34 to $68/head.

It was noticeable that there were more one and two score sheep in the market as the very poor seasonal conditions continue.

At Bendigo, Ballarat, Hamilton and Horsham all mutton prices improved $20 to $40/ head and at Ballarat where they yarded 11,670 most heavy sheep were quoted between 550c and 650c/kg carcass weight with plenty of heavy sheep making over $200/head.

If there is anything good to come out of this bad season it is that at least farmers are getting a good price for the lambs and mutton.

Lamb prices are holding up very well and in many saleyards improving while going forward there are some good forward contracts about at around the 900c/ kg mark and in some place 950c plus delivered in August.

These forward contracts give producers and feeders the opportunity to do their sums and in the case of lamb traders gives surety going forward.

At Ballarat on Tuesday there were plenty of lambs quoted between 850c and 900c/kg as the number of well finished lambs comes under pressure.

It will be interesting to see how the big meatworks handle these higher prices.

In the past they would move from mutton to lambs or goats or visa versa but with both lamb and mutton prices at very high levels they may have to move to killing more goats, but even this may be not as simple as in the past.

In 2024 the Australian goat meat production surged 47 per cent on the previous year smashing the previous record set in 2023.

MLA reports that “an expanded goat flock and increased processing capacity have reshaped the sector’s baseline, ushered in a new era of elevated supply”.

Australia is the world’s biggest goat meat exporter supplying over half of the global trade volume with the US being our biggest customer followed by South Korea, China and Taiwan.