ALAN Pitcher's grin said it all.
The $97 Alan and his son Russell received for their 2005-drop bare-shorn Merino ewes was $30 better than they had ever been paid.
After the pain of an Ovine Johne's Disease infection 11 years ago, followed by dry seasons and costly hand-feeding, last Friday's returns from the sale of 1560 ewes and wethers seemed worth the persistence and effort.
The Pitchers of Skipton were one of seven vendors in the annual Lismore-Western Plains circuit sale.
Jim Boyle of Corindhap was another satisfied vendor.
"It makes you glad you stuck with sheep," said Mr Boyle after selling wethers to a top of $110.50 and ewes to $107.
Clearly now it's a breeders' market for Merinos. And if the supply-demand trends hold true, the medium-to-long-term prospects for Merino breeders look very bright, subject only to the season.
Pity now the restockers, who are competing with processors for a dwindling supply of breeding sheep to join to either Merino or terminal rams.
Take the example at Jim Boyle's sale last week where Warrnambool processor Midfield Meats paid $88 to outbid restockers for 439 5 1/2-year-old July-shorn ewes.
Or at the Waltons' Wurrook sale at Rokewood, where 500 of an offering of 878 2003-drop ewes went for $95. The rest went to South Australian meat processor T&R Pastoral at $87.
Processors are now paying upwards of 350c/kg carcass weight for sheep, regardless of whether they are young or old breeders.
For medium-conditioned breeding sheep - Merino or crossbreds - with a carcass weight of 25kg, $85-$90 has become the norm for processors.
The question now for restockers is how much they can afford to pay.
One old rule of thumb which still seems relevant has been that the cost of a replacement sheep should be equal to the expected returns from a ewe in the first year. For instance, a crossbred ewe at 150 per cent lamb marking and a prime lamb at $100 plus $10 for wool, would equal about $160.
For a Merino ewe joined to a terminal ram, and at an 80 per cent lamb marking rate producing a $90 lamb and $40 of wool, the ewe's cost would be $112.
That justifiable cost for a Merino ewe can rise rapidly with a higher lambing percentage and higher wool prices.
The trend to plainer-bodied ewes with increased bodyweights and higher lambing percentages, and a higher wool price, could mean that restockers might soon have to justify $150 plus for maiden Merino ewes.
At Deniliquin last week, prices for unjoined Riverina Merinos were getting closer to that mark. Hopefully a revival in the superfine wool market will give southern sheep a chance to lift their limits.
Hamilton yarding up
HAMILTON's yarding of weaner steers in the first week of the January feature sales totalled 11,550 head, not 9300 as reported last week.
In an agency breakdown of a share of these yardings, Elders sold 37.5 per cent, not 46 per cent as reported, while Landmark's share was 19 per cent, not 16.5 per cent.
The five private independent agencies had a combined share of 43.5 per cent, led by Kerr & Co with 16 per cent of the total weekly yardings.
