Just over 29,000 bales were offered in the final sale of the season. End of year figures show an overall reduction of 225,182 bales offered, compared to the 2017/18 season, a fall of 11.9%.

The market opened softer and then continued to drop as the week progressed.

Better style wools were generally 70-100 cents easier, while the lesser style wools were even harder hit, up to 150 cents cheaper. The NRI fell by 58 cents, finishing the season at 1,731 and has now suffered the second highest monthly fall since the end of the Reserve Price Scheme (losing 178 cents in June).

The skirtings also dropped sharply, generally losing 50-100 cents, with higher VM wools most affected. Crossbreds generally eased by 30-50 cents.

The first sale of the new season is traditionally a larger sale, as growers looking to sell in the new financial year take the first opportunity. This year however, the sale is smaller than normal with 34,504 bales currently rostered.

Source: AWEX

Did you know the definition of a lamb is changing? From 1 July 2019 the new definition comes into place. If you’re unsure of what it means here are some facts from Sheep Producers Australia.

The definition of a lamb is changing in Australia. The current definition of a lamb is ‘A female, castrate or entire male that has 0 permanent incisor teeth’. The new definition is ‘an ovine animal that: (a) is under 12 months of age; or (b) does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear.’ This means a lamb is able to cut one or both of its permanent central incisor teeth, as long as they are not in wear.

Why is the change occurring? The current definition gives producers no warning light about when a lamb stops being
a lamb – the moment a permanent incisor erupts, the lamb is downgraded to hogget. The new definition gives producers greater certainty and a definitive signal to make moves to market their lambs. Producers will have generally less than a month from the time of eruption to when permanent incisors are in wear. The new definition is
also consistent with New Zealand’s definition – Australia’s biggest lamb competitor in export markets.

Research has shown that a lamb under the new definition was as acceptable to consumers as lamb under the current definition.

For more information head to www.sheepproducers.com.au.

Week 48 saw the market rebound as buyers fought hard to secure meaningful quantity, on a relatively small selection, resulting in a 91.5% clearance rate

The small offering coupled with strong demand, helped push merino fleece prices 40-80 cents higher. The skirtings market followed suit recording increases of 40-60 cents. After the large losses experienced at the previous sale, the crossbred sector also managed to bounce back. The entire crossbred range generally rose by 40-60 cents. Main buyer focus was on the better prepared lines and these wools enjoyed the largest increases.

The oddments also recorded strong positive movement, locks in particular came under intense pressure, as multiple exporters competed on a limited quantity, pushing prices up by 30-40 cents.

Next week will see 23,619 bales offered nationally, and if the forecast proves accurate, it will be the smallest national offering in over two years.

Source: AWEX

Due to the diminishing supply of better wools, good style lots again attracted excellent buyer support, selling at levels
very similar to those achieved at the previous sale. However, the inferior / lower yielding wools, were discounted as buyers struggled to average them into their purchases. The result of these discounts saw overall reductions in the individual MPGs, which in turn pushed the AWEX NRI lower.

Due to seasonal conditions the amount of fleece wool yielding less than 60% continues to rise. A report compiled by AWEX highlights that in previous drought years the volume of low yielding wools peaked in mid-April. This being the case, history shows that the amount of low yielding wools will continue to rise over the next four weeks.

The crossbred market defied the trend of the merino sectors, with strong buyer activity pushing prices higher, with the better prepared lines enjoying the largest increases. Oddments on the other hand had another tough week, shedding 36 cents on average.

Source: AWEX

The wool market recorded substantial increases this week, following the news that Chinese Customs had suspended all greasy wool imports from South Africa, due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease earlier in the year. Melbourne sold in isolation on Tuesday and the limited offering came under intense pressure, with prices quickly increasing by 80-90 cents. When sales resumed in Sydney and Fremantle on Wednesday, similar gains were achieved, resulting in 20 & 21 microns hitting an all-time high. Thursday’s market saw a distinct softening, particularly later in the day, with the Southern & Western Regions giving up 16 & 41 cents respectively, while the Northern Region recorded little change to close the week at 2,074 +63 cents.

The crossbred sector continued to track sharply upward. Prices generally improved by 20-50 cents. These increases
have pushed the MPGs for 28 and 30 micron further into record territory.

There are currently 49,738 bales rostered for sale next week, an increase, of over 8,500 bales compared to previous estimates.

Source: AWEX

The 2019 Flock Ewe Competition Day of the Parkes Show Society attracted a great crowd with first time entrants Ian, Julie and Nick Westcott from Peak Hill taking out the top prize.

The annual Doug Bicket Memorial Ewe Competition held on 22nd February saw Geoff Cole claiming second spot and Roger Hood getting the Encouragement award. The day has shown significant growth over recent years. A strong field of enthusiastic merino producers competed for the title, reflecting the pride they take in their flocks.

Twelve months of hard work, intensive hand feeding and drought management strategies were showcased throughout the day. Spectators were treated to a good cross section of eight merino bloodlines run under a range of management systems and environments.

Industry representatives were on hand throughout the day to update attendees on the latest advancements, technologies, markets and management strategies

This weeks smaller selection of 41,757 bales attracted strong demand. As with recent sales it was those wools possessing favourable additional measurement results that attracted the greatest attention. With these types in short supply, they recorded the largest increases for the series and were a major factor in many of the individual Micron Price Guides (MPGs) posting positive movements.

A large selection of tender wool and wool with high cvh readings lacked support and these wools lost ground. Overall, the NRI added 10 cents, to close at 1,970 for the series.

After performing well over the previous two weeks, the large selection of crossbred wool had mixed results. Wool 26 micron and finer lacked buyer support and recorded losses of 30-40 cents, while 30 to 32 microns attracted good
support.

The oddment market also experienced losses this week, with price for locks, stains and crutchings generally 20-40
cents lower. Currently 40,629 bales are rostered for next weeks sale.

Source: AWEX

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is unearthing new opportunities for landowners in the Central West to reap benefits of the Inland Rail programme.

Landowners in the vicinity of the Narromine to Narrabri area are encouraged to register their interest in supplying borrow pit/quarry materials such as rock, gravel and soil. Inland Rail Project Director Duncan Mitchell said the material would be used to build the rail embankments during construction.

“Ideally, the location of borrow pits containing suitable general fill material would be within 25km of the Narromine to Narrabri study area. However, for competent rock which can be used to produce ballast rock, up to 50km from the study area could be considered. That means people in the Dubbo, Wee Waa, Trangie, Coonamble, Coonabarabran,
and Baradine areas should take a look at this opportunity.

ARTC will pay an extraction fee per tonne and will rehabilitate the borrow pits and cover with topsoil. There is also potential for land to become more usable, for example, if a hill is removed and land is flattened or if a hollow is left providing a new water catchment.”

Council leaders from Narromine and Narrabri are keen to see local landowners get involved. “We’ll need to import in excess of 3 million cubic metres of fill material, or the equivalent of about 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Duncan said.

To register for the quarry material opportunity, visit the Inland Rail website https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/n2nborrow-pit-registration