Lambs expected to bloom in New Year

BEN CURRAN/Manawatu Standard

GOING, GOING....PGG Wrightson stock agent Dan Flanagan takes bids on a pen of lambs.

Relevant offers

Feilding had its biggest lamb sale of the season last week, but there's better to come, writes JILL GALLOWAY.

Farmers and stock agents say stock maturity is at least three weeks behind a normal year, as the cool weather has taken its toll.

At last Friday's store stock sale in Feilding, it was the first time many new season's lambs had come forward for sale.

There were about 9000 sheep on offer, made up mostly of lamb pens, with just a handful of ewes.

Dan Flanagan, a PGG Wrightson stock agent, said he expected a lot of lambs to come out for sale after New Year, once they were a bit more mature.

"There has been a lack of maize going in, so there will be green feed crops, and that means lambs will be in demand."

The Manawatu Standard's sale reporter said prices for lambs were up $3 a head on the medium- and longer-term lambs, in spite of a falling meat schedule and expected further falls.

The top price of $78 was paid for some heavy mixed-sex blackface lambs, while the poorest lambs made just $25.

Woodville-based farmer Bill Bly, who has a property on the Wairarapa coast, said pasture was just beginning to grow there now, much later than the usual early spring flush.

There was concern that pasture quality would be reduced as grass grew but then went straight to seed, he said.

"The high value of the kiwi dollar, and a question over what the meat companies will pay for lambs – that's making farmers unsure, and less confident," Mr Bly said.

Fewer lambs were changing hands as a result, he said.

Mr Bly said there needed to be money for the breeders, the finishers and the meat companies – though he said the meat companies tended to look after themselves and the farmers carried the risk.

He said the cooler temperatures and cold winds were making growth tough for lambs in particular.

"Lambs need sunshine to bloom. The lambs we're seeing, they have the carcass size but they are not finished," he said.

Bring on the summer sun, all farmers and stock agents said.

There was expected to be reasonable demand for lambs and cattle to finish (fatten) in Hawke's Bay, as steady rain throughout spring has left the region much greener than usual. There is also little stock there, as lambs from the "early" country have already been sent to meat plants.

Friday's cattle sale at Feilding saw a full bench, with 1200 cattle up for auction.

It was standing room only as hundreds of buyers and sellers crowded in to see what demand was like.

There were good-quality cattle for sale. The high interest reflected the lack of cattle available, and some good grass growth at last.

- © Fairfax NZ News