THE Elders Swan Hill livestock team has raised the prime lamb bar to new heights for a Balranald-based client with “premium marketing” of their merino lambs.
It was a sale that helped launch a potentially exciting opportunity for local merino breeders in a market traditionally dominated by crossbreds.
Agent Matt Rowlands says he had a client running a merino flock based on Wallaloo Park bloodlines who produces “outstanding young lambs” and through network connections he was able source a private buyer.
Due to the good season and plenty of quality feed, he says the producer decided to hang onto 100 per cent of his lamb drop, before shearing them in August and putting together a drafted line of 404 wether lambs that were 7-8 months of age.
“I have been working with another client who has a very specific target product for his processing enterprise – he wants a quality lamb which has been well finished, but not overdone, and he is prepared to pay top dollar for them,” Matt explains.
“These lambs were run on clover and barley under irrigation and it finished them off beautifully, making sure they really suited the job I had.”
When the numbers were finalised and the lambs processed, they had averaged 27.8kg carcase weight, with a yield of 48.9 per cent, “which is a credit to the vendor’s breeding and management considering the lambs were only 7-8 months old and returned $224.12 per head”.
An outcome Matt says showed the quality and conformation of the lambs and that’s what attracted his private client.
“In the end the breeder received an average of 763c/kg for his lambs – that was an astonishing price coming in at a 63 cent premium to the current market for similar lambs,” Matt says.
“I have been doing a bit with the buyer now, and he has made it very clear he is a serious player in the market if producers want to breed the right type for him.
“These sheep had excellent eye muscle area, depth and a lot of carcase shape – the buyer had commented these were the youngest and best merino lambs he has seen to date as he has always been a crossbred lamb buyer.
“He told me he was particularly impressed by the length and depth of the wethers, as well as the eye muscle and intramuscular fat.”
Matt says when he and his Balranald vendor did the sums, they finished up with an average $37 per head premium to the market – and the producer was $100 a head better off by keeping them on his surplus feed instead of selling them back in October when he would normally turn off his wether lambs.
“And he gets the money for his wool clip on top of that, so yes, I’d say it’s been a tremendous sale and just goes to show that through communication with clients, agents, wool advisers and careful agronomy, all of which in this case is sourced from Elders Swan Hill, you really can achieve huge results,” he says.
“It’s a great showcase that there are more options out there for people’s stock if they are given the right advice.
“This sale has given our client a real boost heading into the new year, prepared for lambing and having a breeding plan set for years ahead.
“At the end of the day it’s all about achieving the utmost best results for producers in our local community, they work tirelessly for 12 months to prepare a product for us to market and we are proud to partner with them achieve outstanding results just like this.”
