Thank you again to Bull Tackle Feed in Lexington Nebraska for being our new sponsor of the weekly sheep and goat market report. Check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/bulltackle
For the week ending September 18th the Midwest sheep and goat market was steady with higher undertones on higher quality stock. Demand was noted as good in all sales. Again the underlying comment from most sales this week was to garner the higher prices the quality of the stock had to be higher. Buyers are still seeing long term support in the market, but are starting to become more selective of what they want to spend their money on. Breeding stock continues to be an attractive market. Last week we noted the large replacement doe sale in Texas. Next week we may get another glimpse of how the hair sheep replacement market is fairing with the Mid States Hair Sheep Cooperative fall sale in Nebraska. With all the talk about replacement quality stock the cull market seems to be softening this week for both sheep and goats. The slaughter market for lambs and goats is holding steady with consumers continuing to pay higher prices for their favorite proteins. Economic data continues to show that inflation is occurring in the US economy however a tight labor market is keeping wages competitive. Higher wages help consumers have more disposable income and that can many times be spent on food.
As we get closer to the official start of fall the late summer slump may be trying to wind down as demand typically starts to pick back up in the fall and move higher out through the winter towards Easter. In terms of ethnic holidays Rosh Hasanah is behind us and it appears there are no major holidays until the Prophet’s Birthday October 18th and 19th.
At the time of writing this report the USDA had not released the latest lamb retail activity index or retail data. The latest report we have is two weeks old and at this point gives us very little insight into the demand or supply of lamb at the grocery store meat counter. We hope to have the report back by next week and can better inform what is going on at the retail level for lamb.
Other commodity markets were mixed this week. Last week’s USDA data from the World Outlook Supply and Demand report weighed on the grains early on keeping them under pressure. Then grains tried to recover some of their losses towards the end of the week. Exports are getting off to a sluggish start this year with infrastructure still damaged in the Gulf after two hurricanes. Analysts are confident there is still time to make up the backlog from last year, but time is critical to get the ports open. In the Midwest basis is improving in many areas as merchandisers are wanting to take advantage of early harvest and fill contracts. Drying specials also seem to be common. For the livestock feeder this continues to point towards tight supplies for now and still higher than year ago prices.
Other feed input markets to report include the hay market. Kansas and Nebraska hay markets reported steady prices and slowing in state demand as farmers get underway with silage cutting and wet corn harvest. Corn stalk bales were highly discussed in Nebraska this week with many farmers wondering about strong demand for stalks this winter. In Southeast Kansas this week grass hay moved well as there are a few dry areas and ranchers are wanting to protect pastures as well as be stocked for winter before prices move higher. Out of state demand continues to be strong as Northern plains are still dry. Good news this week farmers reported that 4th cutting received rain just right and tonnage is looking better than last year in spots. As well millet and feed pulled out of the heat stress and should make decent tonnage. So supply is slowly looking better for hay, but demand is expected to remain strong.
For the week ending 9/17 lamb slaughter under federal inspection was estimated at 32,000 head on Friday. There is an expected Saturday slaughter of 1,000 head. That will bring the total weekly slaughter to 33,000 head. That’s 9,000 head more than the previous week and 2,000 head less than the previous year. Year to date lamb slaughter is at 1,348,000 head. About -1.1% or 15,000 head less than a year ago. Cattle slaughter continues to keep pace ahead of the previous year at 3.7%. Hog slaughter continues to slide behind 2020 now -1.8% behind. USDA data for goat slaughter this week was 9,658 head on Friday afternoon. Lamb and mutton production under federal inspection through 9/17 is estimated at 2 million pounds. That is up 600,000 pounds from the previous week. Year to date lamb and mutton production is estimated at 86.2 million pounds. Production continues to drop behind 2020 for the third month now by 4.5% or about 4.0 million pounds. The average live lamb weight for the week ending 9/17 was 119 pounds, that is unchanged from the previous were and down 2 pounds from last year. Dressed weights for lambs this week were 60 pounds. That is unchanged from the previous week and 1 pounds lighter than a year ago.
Sale reports from the week
Here is a regional price range from all sales in the report. For a look at an individual sale follow the links to that sale.
Wool lambs
40-70 lbs $230-$287.50/cwt
70 lbs & up $160-$280/cwt
Hair lambs
40-70 lbs $245-$325/cwt
70 lbs and up $225-$300/cwt
Wool ewes
Slaughter $75-$250/cwt
Replacement N/A
Wool bucks $105-$205/cwt
Hair Ewes
Slaughter $80-$210/cwt
Replacement $125-$300/hd
Kid Goats
20-40 lbs $250-$450/cwt
40-70 lbs $250-$335/cwt
Wethers 70-100 lbs $275-$325/cwt
Does
Slaughter medium-fleshy $175-$225/cwt
Replacement $210-$325/HD
Bucks
Slaughter $175-$231/cwt
Breeding $210-$250/hd
