Latest news with #lambs
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.
CBC
11-05-2025
- General
- CBC
'Rare' quintuplet lamb birth awes Saanich community ahead of Mother's Day
Social Sharing While dogs and cats are known to have large liters, sheep not so much. So when Ashley Rice returned to Prohibition Vineyards in Saanich to find five lambs with her ewe Abagail, she was shocked. Rice had just finished picking up her children from school and running errands when she decided to check on Abagail in the pasture, knowing she was pregnant and about to be giving birth soon. "We knew Abagail was our last sheep. We were waiting for her to have her babies, everyone else had their babies like a month ago," said Rice. After driving to the pasture, her son Jackon said, "look, three lambs!" Her daughter Scarlett followed up with, "look, four lambs!" When Rice went in for a head count, she said she was astonished to find five lambs. At first, the kids didn't believe her when she told them how many there were, she told CBC's All Point West in laughter. With her husband and farmhand away, Rice reached out to her neighbour, Sidney, for help. The pair scooped up the lambs and took them to the lamb pen for safety from ravens and eagles. Rice said the lambs are healthy and in good shape, but this litter has been smaller in size compared to previous ones. She said an attachment has grown and the lambs are being monitored regularly to support their health. "All of them are super healthy, no birth defects. They are all starting to jump around and the mom is just being super, putting up with lots of shenanigans in the pen," she said. In another sheep quintuplet birth story two years ago in Salmon Arm, B.C., a sheep researcher at the University of Guelph, Cathy Bauman, said that sheep only have two teats, so caring for more than two lambs at a time can be difficult for the mothers. Rice said extra effort is being put into caring for the lambs, given their special birth story. One lamb was on the bottle for a few days but has since rejected it and is starting to gain weight, so things are hopeful and looking good for the litter, she said. Bauman said sheep quintuplets are quite rare. She keeps a herd of sheep herself and has witnessed many births over the years. Five lambs from an ewe would be a surprise, said Bauman. Rice said that her children have been especially excited to see the lambs outside in the pen each day, and the sheep community in Saanich has been regularly checking in on the babies, rooting for their success and offering the family advice. The lambs will be ready to go out with the rest of the pasture this coming week, said Rice. "Everyone is appreciating the sweet, happy story and we appreciate it too — it draws light on farming and the sheep," she said, noting not a lot people farm the animals on Vancouver Island.
