WELL we have all thought the past couple of WA ram selling seasons have been big, but this year’s has been even bigger, going to a whole new level for WA stud breeders.
Once again new benchmarks were set across the board to surpass last year’s record-breaking season.
Despite an indifferent season across the State, producers were full of confidence when sales got underway after realising a sheep enterprise is a profitable commodity to any farming operation over the past couple of years.
With the big dollar returns from sheep running through their heads, buyers weren’t afraid to pull their hands out of their pockets and bid up.
The season average across all breeds smashed through the $1550 barrier and the gross topped $23.7 million, making it the biggest ever ram selling season on record.
Like the past few years the wool market continued to strengthen reaching record levels throughout the year, with many in the industry saying they had never seen these type of returns for wool.
The market has risen significantly over the past 10 years and you can see this when you compare the Western Market Indicator (WMI) averages over this time frame.
In the 2008/09 season the WMI averaged 760c/kg clean and last season (2017/18) it averaged 1793c/kg, meaning it has risen 1033c/kg (234 per cent) over this period.
But an even more significant comparison which shows just how strong wool prices have been in the past 18 months is when you compare the WMI of the 2017/18 season to that of the 2016/17 season.
In 2016/17 the WMI averaged 1454c/kg, meaning last season’s WMI was up 339c/kg or 23pc in comparison.
This significant lift in prices last wool selling season saw producers average $2225 for a 185 kilogram bale of good, sound wool at 21 micron and 68pc yield.
The market rose even further in the first half of this season (2018/19) and at the start of the ram selling season, the WMI was at 2279c/kg for sale F07 on August 16, an all-time high for the WMI and 36c/kg higher than the previous record set on June 28.
At this mark it meant it was up by 599c/kg on the same sale last year when the indicator was at 1680c/kg and 888c/kg up on the same sale in 2016.
Prices have eased since then and the WMI now sits at 2005c/kg following last week’s sale F18 on November 1.
Even though the WMI is down 274c/kg on the start of the selling season, it is still well up on the same time last year when the WMI sat at 1674c/kg.
At last week’s level it means it is up 331c/kg (or 20pc) on the 2017 level and up 212c/kg on the WMI season average for the 2017/18 selling year and a 185kg bale of 21 micron, 68pc yield wool with good length and strength was worth $2679, compared to $2010 last year.
During the September/October period when ram sales were on, a bale was worth $2767, compared to $1985 last year and $1720 and $1570 in 2016 and 2015.
But when it came to sheep and lamb prices, it was steady as you go in the past six months on the back of an industry defining moment for the live export industry and in turn the WA sheep industry in April.
This saw the suspension of an export licence and changes to industry regulations which saw another exporter stop exporting out of WA over the northern summer and as a consequence the industry ground to a halt.
Live sheep exports resumed last month, close on four months after the last boat sailed from Fremantle in June.
This hiatus throughout the autumn and winter period meant more sheep were put in the local processing market than normal at a time of the year when feed is tight and producers often off load excess stock.
But despite this, prices held firm and tracked similar to 2017, some were even up, like lambs and mutton peaking at near record levels.
In July and August lamb producers saw heavy lambs sell for more than $200 a head in the saleyards to create a run of record prices for lambs in WA.
These prices peaked at $218 at the Muchea Livestock Centre on August 14.
The Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) weekly indicator report (which includes the Muchea Livestock Centre and Katanning prices) showed heavy lamb averaging 726c/kg (week ending Tuesday, August 21) during this time.
There was also a record price for new season lambs when prices hit $201.50 at the Muchea Livestock Centre on August 28 and they sold between 770-824c/kg in the same sale.
Mutton was also strong, with prices peaking at $163.50 at Katanning on July 11, while mutton realised a high of 500c/kg dressed at the Muchea Livestock Centre on July 31 and 508c/kg at Katanning for heavy mutton more than 24kg on July 25.
MLA’s WA saleyard indicator for mutton peaked at 454c/kg (as reported in the week ending July 24).
Throughout the year wether prices remained firm and for the majority of the year have ranged between $95 and $120 at the Muchea Livestock Centre to be similar to last year.
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When sales started at the beginning of September (week ending Tuesday, September 4) MLA’s weekly indicator report had Merino lamb averaging 694c/kg dressed (August 28) compared to 605c/kg in 2017 and light lamb was sitting at 644c/kg compared to 549c/kg, while trade lamb was at 671c/kg and heavy lamb was making 690c/kg in comparison to figures of 608c/kg and 611c/kg respectively in 2017.
In terms of mutton MLA’s weekly indicator report had it averaging 462c/kg compared to 381c/kg in 2017.
Like trade sheep prices, prices at this year’s spring ewe sales have also hit record levels at many sales on the back of strong local buying support.
Following on from last year’s high values, ewe prices prices went to new levels this year and hit a State record high for commercial ewes of $239 at the Landmark Corrigin/Wickepin State Premier ewe sale for a line of 2.5-year-old ewes, while 1.5yo ewes topped at $231 and the average price for ewes in the sale was $174. In the same sale last year prices hit $212.
But this wasn’t the only sale where ewes sold for more than $200, the majority of the sales saw top lines go beyond the $200 mark and as a result the ewe offerings in most sales averaged more than $140.
As a result they were part of the record-breaking season which saw 16,870 Merino, British, Australasian and South African breed rams offered at sales and 15,277 sold for a clearance rate of 90pc, a gross of $23,767,895, a $1556 average and to a top of $27,500.
In comparison last year 16,484 rams were offered and 15,092 sold under the hammer for a gross of $21,192,140, at an average of $1404 and a 92pc clearance.
This meant across the board 386 more rams were offered and 185 more rams sold, while the gross was up $2,575,755 (12pc) and clearance was down 2pc.
The overall season average of $1556 smashed last year’s record-breaking average by $152.
Compared to 2000 when Farm Weekly started recording sale results for all breeds, the average more than doubled up $859 on that year’s average of $697, while compared to 10 years ago (2009) it was up $632 on its average of $924, the second lowest recorded in the past decade.
In terms of gross revenue, this year ranks as the biggest since 2000 and the second time the figure had topped the $20 million mark, with last year the first.
When it comes to the number of rams offered and sold the peak was in 2004, when 19,960 rams were offered and 17,272 were sold.
This year the number of rams sold is the largest since 2006 and the first time since then where more than 15,000 rams have sold under the hammer, while the number of rams offered was the biggest since 2007 in that year 17,460 rams were offered.
The $27,500 season top price was paid for a full wool, four-tooth Lewisdale Poll Merino ram at the Lewis family’s Lewisdale stud on-property ram sale at Wickepin, when it sold a semen sire, entitling the buyer to semen to use in their flock and a half share of all semen sold with possession retained by the stud.
Merino sales experienced the biggest jump in numbers with 267 more rams offered and 249 more sold compared to 2017.
As well as an increase in the number of rams offered and sold, Merino sales also recorded the largest rise in average, up $237 compared to 2017.
The average for the Dorpers/White Dorpers rose $183 on the back of an extra 11 rams sold, while Dohnes rose by $69 on the back of 13 less rams sold and the British Breeds average was up $35 for 105 more rams sold.
In the average stakes, the shedding breeds (UltraWhites, Lambmaster and Kojaks) performed the strongest achieving an average of $2015 over 298 rams sold, with Lambmasters the best performing with an average of $3625 for 12 rams offered and sold.
Merinos were next best with an average of $1785 followed by the Dohnes at $1431 and Dorpers/White Dorpers at $1291.
The British and Australasian breeds finished with an average of $1073 and here it was the Prolifics with an average of $1891 along with the Texels, Poll Dorsets and White Suffolks at $1272, $1073 and $1068 which were the top performers.
In terms of market share, the Merinos again held more than 60pc of the market and this year increased market share by 1pc to 62pc on rams sold compared to 2017.
The British and Australasian breeds’ market share fell 1pc, finishing at 26pc.
When the British and Australasian breeds market share is broken down, White Suffolks and Poll Dorsets sit at 12pc and 10pc, making them the next biggest breeds sold behind the Merino.
The Dohne and Prime SAMM breeds recorded a market share of 6pc and 3pc respectively on the number of rams sold, which were both the same as last year.