AS SHEEP numbers through saleyards decline for the winter months, prices continue to rise – and last Thursday's Jamestown monthly market was no exception, where rates were up to $30 more than at the previous sale.
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The price leap in a smaller yarding of about 5000 sheep and lambs at the Elders and Landmark combined sale was credited to good rain through May and early June.
Some stations that had booked-in sheep from the Broken Hill region had to pull-out because heavy rain hampered trucking.
Sheep were supplied from many parts of the State, including the West Coast, Adelaide Plains, Mid North, Mallee, Upper South East, Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide Hills and local areas.
But the smaller yarding meant the sale lacked the interstate support it normally boasts.
Mixed-age October shorn ewes Collinsville blood scanned in-lamb to White Suffolk rams from Durrant & Co, Gladstone, made the sale top of $135 for 109.
CH Sanders, Tarcowie, who yarded 140 August 2008-drop, May shorn ewes which had been running with White Suffolk, making $105.
But agents agreed the standout feature was the yarding of 2012-drop ewe lambs which sold $15 to $20 up on previous sales.
Landmark Jamestown's Don Cullen said prices for 2012-drop ewe lambs were a strong pointer to where prices would probably be for young ewes in spring.
Elders' Scott Fleetwood said the strong competition on young ewes probably came about because of an expected shortage.
"There have been a lot of those young ewes already gone to the trade and are out of the system, so I think people are getting a hold of them while they can," he said.
The best of these came from JF&JU O'Dea, Pekina – 150 Hamilton Run blood May/June 2012-drops March shorn at $116.
John L Quinn & Sons, Mount Bryan, made $90 on 100 March-shorn Lines Gum Hill blood April/May 2012-drop ewes.
D Atze, Mount Pleasant, sold 93 July/August 2012-drop June-shorn ewes at $87.
DL Need, Peterborough, made $69 on 85 April/May 2012-drop October-shorn ewes.
In the 2011-drop ewes JM&JC Klemm, Eudunda, made $97 on 115 May shorn June/July-drops running with Poll Dorset rams.
The top drafts of 2012-drop wether lambs were in strong demand at $12-$15 dearer than last month. The best price of $79 in this section went Walmona Pastoral, Truro, on 353 Rices Creek blood wethers December 2012/January 2013-drop June-shorn.
A secondary draft of 230 wethers from Walmona sold at $69.50.
Smith Partners, Belton, sold 72 wethers September/October 2012-drop, March-shorn, at $68.
Coondambo Pastoral, Port Augusta, made $67 on 370 August 2012-drop May shorn wethers.
Koomooloo Station, Burra, sold 525 wethers May/June 2012-drop February shorn at $64 and a secondary draft of 340 at $52.
Some older wethers from Coondambo – 370 August/September 2011-drops, May-shorn – sold $70.50.
A pen of 122 at Novem-ber/December 2012-drop crossbred lambs from PG Ferguson, Peterborough, made $57.
Koonamore Station, Yunta, yarded more than 1300 aged ewes to $55, SIL to North Ashrose rams.
The next Jamestown market will be on Thursday, July 18.
