Store prices set fair with lamb kill back 16%

Store lamb averages remained defiantly strong through mid-October, buoyed by finishers securing large numbers of horned lambs and a resurgence in prime lamb values.

An average store lamb was £76.53 a head last week, about £12 ahead of one year ago.

Confidence has built on the back of the fact that sheep kill is 16% down on the year, according to Defra figures, alongside a recovery in prime lamb prices, which lost ground in September. Liveweight SQQs sat at more than 235p/kg in October.

Numbers are tight and lambs have rocketed in value abroad, with sheep numbers still to recover in the southern hemisphere after periods of drought.

UK lamb prices are up about 20% on the year, but in New Zealand they have lifted 30-40% after a meteoric late summer rise to about NZ$9.35-9.50/kg (£4.86-£4.94/kg).

See also: Heavy lambs in demand as prices hold firm

Meat and Livestock Australia has predicted that prices there will hold or slightly strengthen next year.

Bentham

Greg MacDougall at Bentham Auction Mart had sold 4,990 and 6,956 store lambs at Bentham’s past two fortnightly sales.

Mr MacDougall said: “Vendors are getting better at judging which day to sell lambs as either prime or store. Store lambs making £112 in the store ring might be worth £10 less as finished lambs currently.”

He added that Beltex lambs and the best Texels and Suffolks were in shorter supply as the horned lambs came forward. This meant good continental lambs for the Christmas market could easily make £90-£120, he predicted.

Longer-term lambs had made £80-odd a head and smaller Texdales and Texwick-type sheep were making £75-£80.

“The rain has made people house cows, but the flush of grass has meant dairy farms have come out to buy store lambs,” said Mr MacDougall.

He said fertiliser prices could limit demand for lambs, with dairy producers possibly getting nervous about carrying more stock into next spring.

Salisbury

Iain Soutar at Southern Counties Auctions believes a strong store lamb trade is on the cards for November.

Salisbury has mainly sold medium-term types for finishing beyond Christmas, with £92 generally seeming like the limit for bids, said Mr Soutar.

This was for mainly Suffolk-cross lambs, with some Texel and Charollais-cross. A few pens of tail-enders made £77 a head.

“It’s a good trade and remarkable that red meat has done so well against some pretty awful publicity from various sides,” said Mr Soutar.