Hazlett Rural auctioneer Ed Marfell said the annual onfarm lamb sales at Snowdon and High Peak stations last Monday were a prime example of two stations that really got pinched through December.
Neither of the Rakaia Gorge stations received any rain in November but given it was so wet before November, lambs carried through reasonably well.
But come December there was a three-week period where stock, particularly lambs, really struggled before rain finally fell on Boxing Day.
“Lambs certainly hardened off, then there was 160mm of rain into January and the lambs just started to go again.
“Come the sale day they were ready to fire with feed, and the January rain had boosted buyer confidence, so overall it was a pleasing result in the end for the vendors and the buyers seemed to be pretty happy too,” Marfell said.
“The lambs weren’t what they normally are, but given the challenging season they were well-presented – a magnificent line-up of more than 10,000 lambs and a credit to the vendors.
“The properties had earned their reputation, year-in year-out, and the lambs offered were well-sought after.”
High Peak farm operations manager Hamish Guild described the sale as one of two halves.
“The light lambs sold well where buyers were looking more at dollars per head rather than per kilogram – through the middle they were softer, and overall it was a reflection of the season with the lack of rain.
“It didn’t stop raining from April to October, it was a wet, cold lambing in September, and then no rain when we needed it for lactation.”
The 150mm of rain in January didn’t help the lambs but it was most welcome, Guild said.
“The rain was certainly timely in boosting buyer confidence, which helped push the prices.”
“The rain was certainly timely in boosting buyer confidence, which helped push the prices.”
Hamish Guild
High Peak Station
Marfell said the tops of the lambs from both stations were solid on all recent sales, and while forward stores were just holding their own, the lighter-end genuine stores had a very good sale.
At Snowdon Station the tops of the Suffolk Perendale mixed-sex lambs fetched up to $141 with an exceptional sale at $153, while others sold from $86-$120. Ewe lambs sold from $80-$121, and smaller lambs $75. Perendale crypt lambs ranged $66-$114.
At High Peak Station the Suffolk-Perendale cross mixed-sex lambs sold from $73-$116, while Perendale crypts ranged from $66-$85, and ewe lambs $78.
The next challenge for Canterbury was the influx of lambs from drought-stricken Southland.
Marfell said the pressure was really on, and lambs were arriving in Canterbury six-to-eight weeks earlier than usual because of the dry.
“But with crops coming off now we will handle it – it will take some managing but we will cope,” he said.
Meantime, outside of the yards $3/kg seemed to be a common price for store lambs in the upper South Island, with some sales in Canterbury making in excess of this.
In Southland, where the bulk of the lambs were being offloaded, the market was softer at $2.80-$2.90/kg the week before last, easing to $2.60-$2.80/kg by the end of the week.
Prime lamb operating prices were holding up well in the South Island.
For those in the dry areas this was at least some consolation for being forced to kill down to low weights.
The high turn-off before Christmas was preventing processing space from being too congested, and while there were some wait times through Otago and Southland, overall lambs were moving relatively well.
Canterbury and Marlborough farmers have plenty of feed at the moment so there’s little need to offload further at this point.
The number of lambs already killed to date suggests supply will be lower in coming weeks, but if there’s no respite from the dry, Otago and Southland may be forced to continue to dig deeper into numbers.
Operating prices were expected to hold up in January, underpinned by Easter trade demand, but it was expected that processors would pull prices back into February.
