Strong season spurs selling at Dubbo

This is certainly the case at Dubbo’s Troy regional saleyards where lamb and sheep numbers for the

past two Monday sales have dramatically increased and are expected to stay that way for the next several weeks.

A flux of numbers is seasonally normal for this time of year, but agents say the good season had brought

forward stock finishing conditions.

Last Monday Dubbo agents expected 59,375 head (46,500 lambs – 12,875 mutton/sheep) – up nearly 6000 head on the previous week.

Rain throughout the region last week helped pull back numbers to a yarding of 54,500 head.

The week before 47,259 sheep were yarded.

For Carter Lindsay and Weber co-principal Matthew Weber the big yardings were due to the season.

“We’ve got a pretty fair season and stock are more forward this year,” he said.

“The peak is normally August and numbers are usually not as big at this time, but even cattle are coming in earlier than what they were last year.”

He said breeders were joining heifers sooner because they had the right weights earlier.

Another agent operating at Dubbo, Ross Plasto of Plasto and Company, Wellington, said the larger numbers were purely a reflection of the season.

“The dry in the west and the market has been pretty reasonable, so they have been coming,” he said.

“Older lambs are close to cutting their teeth so they have to move on and suckers are right behind them, but haven’t really started yet.

“There’s no market to the north of us so vendors are coming here. It’s the same with cattle.

“I think it’s just a good season and a bit of a pick up at this time.”

Meat and Livestock Australia reported competition for sheep and lambs was much weaker than the previous week for all categories with overall prices dropping by $10 to $25 a head.

New season lambs lost $14 to $25 with 20- to 24-kilogram lambs fetching from $104 to $123 a head or 491 to 509 cents a kilogram (carcase weight).