Last Wednesday the 13th annual Annandale Sale was held on Banks Peninsula, with 2300 Romney-Sufftex mixed sex lambs on the books. PGG Wrightson agent Stu Uren reported that interest was very high, with strong bidding from Canterbury buyers keeping them local, though a unit load headed to Southland. The store lambs sold for $93-$121 at an average of $112, while prime lines sold up to $144 for the top line.
This sale was followed by the 5th annual Stokes Farming & Saini Farm sale in Oxford. New season lamb numbers were up at 5000 head due to a good lambing, and they were offered alongside 1800 ewes and 2000 hoggets.
The lambs were all terminal-cross mixed sex and had a tremendous sale, Rural Livestock agent Donald Cooke reported, with a larger than usual number staying within the Canterbury region due to feed availability. Some also headed to Southland. Store types mostly ranged from $90-$125, while prime types sold for $135-$180.
The hoggets were fine wool mixed sex and met current market values at $130-$180, while processors were very competitive on the ewes and $120-$190 was common ground.
