After a disappointing year, lamb prices have climbed to levels not seen since the spring of 2001, says an Alberta buyer.
“Lamb prices are recovering quite nicely from the low of early fall,” said Bob Pettie, livestock manager with Sunterra Meats, formerly the Canada West Foods, in Innisfail, Alta., who expects prices to be 15 to 20 percent higher than last year.
He said higher prices are the result of supply and demand. Sheep specialists estimate about one-third of Alberta’s flock was sold last summer because of drought.
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Producers couldn’t compete for high-price feed with cattle and horse producers. Instead, they chose to sell their sheep last fall, causing a shortage this spring.
“We expect lamb prices to be strong for the coming year,” Pettie said, because of the shortage of lamb locally and around the world.
Prices for lambs at Sunterra Meats are $1.05-$1.15 per pound for 105-115 lb. lambs. Sheep prices range from $30 a head for mutton to $60-$100 a head for replacement ewes.
“This is stronger than it was in the fall. The reduced numbers should dictate higher prices,” Pettie said.
Colleen Sawyer, manager of sheep development in Saskatchewan, said fat lambs over 80 lb. are selling for $1.28 per lb., up from the low of 70 cents per lb. last summer.
Strong prices are also an indication of the time of year, said Wray Whitmore, Manitoba Agriculture sheep specialist.
Sheep are seasonal breeders and usually lamb within an eight month period. The four months when they don’t lamb cause a blip in the market from January to April when few lambs are ready for sale.
Only a few people are able to take advantage of better prices that are common at the beginning of the year. Two weeks before Easter some producers can catch the Easter lamb market.
“It’s extremely finicky,” Whitmore said.
The lambs must be around 50 lb. with a nice covering of fat to meet the Easter market, which sometimes ranges from $1.50 to $2 per lb.
“You’re not just pulling lambs off the ewes to get those prices,” she said.
While the Easter prices tend to be higher, Whitmore said it’s too early to predict April prices.
“The scuttlebutt here is that this is going to be a good year.”
