IT was once again a handy payday at the Wagga Wagga lamb sale for Ganmain brothers Peter and Paul Carroll who topped the market, for the second week running, with their lambs that sold for an impressive $186 on Thursday morning.
The Carrolls' draft of 161, extra heavy second cross Dorset lambs, that were almost the height of the top rail, were snapped up by Junee abattoirs.
The 11-month-old lambs weighed 80 kilograms plus and were estimated to dress 41kg.
The lambs had been fed barley from self-feeders and grazing lucerne for the past three months.
Last week at the Wagga sale, the Carrolls' draft of 60 same description lambs sold for a top price of $190.
Peter Carroll said they were a bit jittery ahead of Thursday's sale as heavy lamb buyer Phil Halden, Thomas Foods International, Murray Bridge, South Australia, was absent.
However, the Junee abattoir snapped the lambs up at only $4 off last weeks pace.
"We are over the moon with the price, the lamb market had come back this week so it was good the price was only just under last week," Paul Carroll said.
The Carrolls were fortunate to sell lambs back in 2010 for $208 a head. They will sell the remaining 300 of their heavy lambs, the majority weighing 65kg, in the next fortnight before their suckers come onto the market in August.
The Carrolls run 1200 first cross ewes and aim to finish their heavy lambs for the export market at 70kg live weight and 30kg to 32kg dressed weight.
"We never planned to get them this heavy, but we committed to feeding them barley back when lamb prices were half what they are now," Peter Carroll said.
