Western Victorian saleyard dominates yarding numbers across Australia

Meat Livestock Australia senior market information analyst Erin Lukey published the MLA's 2023 Yardings Report, and the Hamilton Regional Livestock Exchange (HRLX) has earnt the top three largest weekly yardings results for lamb.

Hamilton had 94,000-head of lambs on December 14, 76,925-head on December 11 and 64,500-head on December 4.

Lanyons Stock & Station Agents director Warren Clark, Hamilton, said the figures were no surprise as the preceding two weeks were regularly the busiest time of year for Hamilton agents.

"The numbers are similar, those first two weeks in December are our busiest regardless of where price is or where the season is," he said.

He said the lambs had improved in quality as the season progressed.

"Prior to the 18^th of November it was a terrible season, we had anywhere between 30 millimetres and 80mm about then - about a month too late - but it's incredible how the season has responded," Mr Clark said.

"We had a follow up rain of close to an inch last week, and that's certainly helped summer crops, hay paddocks have been rejuvenated and the season looked like it was going to collapse but it's responded pretty well."

He said if it had failed to rain, agents would've been selling "a lot" of 15-17 kilogram store lambs instead.

Mr Clark said the usual buying fraternity had attended the Hamilton sales with strong competition.

"Quality and prices both improved - a lot of $200 lambs which we didn't think we'd see anywhere near the beginning of the sucker season," he said.

"Mutton prices were disastrous at the beginning of the year, it's certainly picked up, there's good sheep around everywhere."

He said agents yarded just shy of 17,000-head of sheep on Friday and 19,000 the week prior, coupled with cattle sales on the same day.

Largest total yardings for the year's lamb market included Wagga, NSW, with 1,732,970, CVLX Ballarat with 1,119,313, and Forbes, NSW, with 923,280.

Roma, Qld, had the largest weekly yardings for cattle with 242,177 overall and 9756 on May 9, 8650 on July 25 and 8330 on July 4.

Meanwhile, in the sheep market Wagga, NSW, had the largest total yardings for the year with 644,100, while Dubbo, NSW, had 408,876 and CVLX Ballarat had 385,425.

The National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS) will shut down for the holiday season and return in the first week of January.

Price reporting will stop tomorrow, December 20, and resume when saleyards reopen, with most saleyards opening within the first two weeks of 2024.

Hamilton and Leongatha saleyards will kick off the first livestock sales of 2024, with a sheep sale at Hamilton on January 3 and a cattle sale at Leongatha on the same day.

Armidale and Yass, NSW, will host the first cattle sales on January 4, while Guyra, NSW, will host the first sheep sale on January 3.

Griffith, NSW, sheep and SLEX Yass, NSW, cattle will also start selling in the first week of January, while other NSW saleyards will return in the second week.

Blackall, QLD, will host the state's first sale on January 3, with the remaining saleyards in the state opening the following week.

Mount Gambier, SA, will re-open on January 3 to host cattle and sheep sales, while Tasmania's Powranna will re-open January 9, and in Westeran Australia, Mt Barker will re-open on January 4.