Latest news with #lambs
Sky News
24-07-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Farm visitors in Wales told not to hug lambs after disease outbreak
Visitors to Welsh farms have been urged not to hug lambs after an infection outbreak earlier this year. The report by Public Health Wales (PHW) comes after hundreds of people fell ill due to a cryptosporidium outbreak linked to a farm in Wales this spring. More than 200 people became ill, with 18 having to attend hospital. The body responsible for public health in the country has advised farmers to avoid offering people close contact with the lambs, such as holding, cuddling or kissing them. The publication by PHW shows those who had closer contact were more likely to fall ill. The advice is one of a range of recommendations made following the outbreak. The report also recommends better hand-washing facilities, prominent signage to encourage regular hand-washing and that visitors wash their clothing as soon as possible after the visit. The report is being presented at the Royal Welsh Show on Thursday, Europe 's largest agricultural show, which takes place in Builth Wells, Powys, annually. Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite, very common in young livestock, that can cause an illness called cryptosporidiosis, according to the UK Health Security Agency. It can cause sickness and diarrhoea. In some vulnerable people, such as children, illness can be severe. Dr Christopher Williams, consultant epidemiologist at Public Health Wales, who co-authored the report, said diseases such as this one "are spread very easily" in environments such as lamb feeding events. "This report recommends that lamb or calf feeding is supervised and done with the animals separated from the visitors by their pens," he said.
ABC News
11-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Lamb prices keep climbing
A new record price for lambs was set at Wagga Wagga saleyards in NSW Riverina this week when prices surged to $440.20 a head.
ABC News
14-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Australian lambs fetch record prices as export demand surges
Australian farmers are getting record prices for their lambs as demand from overseas nations soars. Records tumbled at saleyards across the nation this week, including at Wagga Wagga, where a pen of 131 cross-bred lambs sold for $424 per head. The lambs were sold by Sam Phillips from Yarrawonga Pastoral, who was in disbelief. "It was unbelievable. We really didn't expect them to do that," he said. At Griffith on Friday, heavy lambs reached up to $431 per head, which at the time of publishing was the new national record. According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), the national price indicators for heavy lambs, trade lambs and light lambs are all at record highs. Speaking to the Country Hour, veteran livestock agent Ron Rutledge said the money on offer to farmers, especially those dealing with drought, was "phenomenal". "There's long-term agents in the industry that haven't seen prices like this, it's just amazing," he said. Wagga-based livestock agent Peter Cabot echoed the sentiment. "We haven't seen anything like it, the lamb market is as dear as it has ever been," he said. "And it's not just those extra heavy lambs making over $400, it's any lambs that are fat and presented well that are selling extremely well." Normally when there is a drought and producers are forced to sell, prices can plummet. But the current supply of lambs is not keeping up with demand from processors. "The demand is there and the supply can't fulfil it," Forbes-based agent Jack Rix told Landline. "The dry weather down south in Victoria, South Australia and southern NSW has forced a lot of people to sell and because the processing market has been strong, there's not a lot left." Australia exported a record amount of lamb in 2024 with nearly 360,000 tonnes, and according to MLA, export numbers this year are tracking slightly higher — up 2 per cent. Despite Donald Trump's tariffs, the United States is still the biggest customer for Australian lamb, followed by China, which granted access to several extra Australian abattoirs in April. Papau New Guinea is also emerging as a major customer. Livestock agent Peter Cabot expected prices to remain strong throughout winter. "I just can't see how it can come back too much at this stage," he said. National livestock reporting service veteran Richard Bailey said it was not just the export market paying big dollars to secure Australian lamb. "I don't think [prices] have changed much in the supermarkets yet, but I'd think it'll have to at some stage," he said. "Both of the major supermarkets are paying premium prices for their type of lamb, so it's got to filter through [to the consumer]. While Australian farmers were celebrating getting over $10 a kilogram for their lambs this week, consumers in New South Wales were paying roughly $45 a kilogram for lamb cutlets. If several Senate inquiries in 2024 showed anything, it is that supermarkets sometimes raise prices whether commodity prices go up or down.
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Lambs are flying out of the pens at the Canterbury Saleyards
rural farming 23 minutes ago A lot of Waitaha farmers are moving away from the traditional system of running ewes and finishing their own lambs. Now they're all in the market to buy in and finish other people's lambs.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Norfolk farm welcomes 'enormous' 10kg lambs
"Giant" lambs that weighed twice the size of an average newborn have been born at an estate. Shepherdess Hannah Murrell delivered half a dozen lambs weighing 10kg (22lb) in her first lambing season on the Gawdy Hall Estate in Harleston, Norfolk. Size was not the only thing to be on the up this year, and the farm said it had its biggest lambing season to date with 250 births. Mark Hayhew, estate manager, said: "You hope for healthy lambs around the 3-5kg, so when you see a healthy enormous one being born alive and well, which is nearly double that size, it's amazing. If not eye watering, for the ewe." The estate's flock included Llanwenog sheep and Norfolk Horn ewes - which are both on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's amber list - alongside Lleyn ewes and associated pedigree rams. It said the size of a newborn lamb can vary depending on the breed, although they typically weigh up to 5kg, with some larger lambs weighing more than Murrell joined the estate in October to take on her first role as a shepherdess. Ahead of the season she said it was going to be the most stressful time to own sheep, the most enjoyable and sometimes the saddest. "It brings the mothering instinct out in you," she said. Mr Mayhew said everybody "loves" the estate's newest arrivals. "This year has been our biggest ever lambing season following a restructure and we were very surprised when quite a few very large lambs were born," he added."Everyone loves them. We've had lots of people walking past our fields and taking pictures and asking us about our giant lambs. When you see them next to the other ordinary-sized lambs, you can really tell the difference." He said next year's lambing season should see even more newborns as the flock numbers have increased to more than 400 breeding ewes. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
