FORCED to hold onto last year’s sucker lambs because of wet conditions has paid off for the Hicks family at Buraja, NSW, when their White Suffolk-cross lambs broke the saleyard record for heavy lambs at Corowa in February.
The eight-month-old lambs were a White Suffolk-Bond cross, averaging 32 kilograms, and sold to $225 a head.
This compares to the saleyard top of $169.20/hd at the same time the previous year, while 2010 Hicks lambs sold to $150.
Graeme Hicks, with wife Rhonda and sons Anthony and Scott, run 1600 Bond ewes, Trigger Vale bloods, on 1600 hectares at Buraja, via Corowa.
Half the ewes are joined to White Suffolk rams to produce prime lambs, while the other half is a self-replacing Bond flock.
Graeme says they use Bond ewes because they are a “good, dual-purpose sheep, with big frames and good quality wool”, while White Suffolks are used for their cleaner faces, length and height, and ease of lambing.
“We had tried other breeds but we found the White Suffolk crossed best with our Bond ewes,” he said.
Bond sheep and White Suffolk rams are bought from Trigger Vale, Lockhart, NSW.
White Suffolk rams from the Mitchell family’s Rene stud at Culcairn, NSW, are also used.
“Both are well-known studs that produce big, framed rams,” he said.
The breeding aim is to produce sucker lambs for sale at about four-months-old from August onward, while any left over are kept to grow out as heavy export lambs, about 9-10 months old.
Graeme sold some four-month-old suckers last month at Corowa, av 21kg, at $139, which is one of the highest prices they have ever received.
The heavies are also sold at Corowa or over-the-hooks, however Graeme says they prefer selling at the market lately because of the better prices.
“However prices are dropping,” he said.
“They certainly have fallen away from the February-March prices. Big lambs have dropped up to $60. Hopefully they don’t drop too much more.”
