High sheep and goat prices this spring are not likely to stay, said Canada’s largest sheep feedlot operator.
Roy Leitch said prices went skyward because of the combination of a shortage of sheep and goats ready for slaughter and a large demand for the meat during Easter.
During recent Alberta sales at St. Paul and Tofield, young lambs sold for almost $150 each.
“It’s unbelievable, how they can sell these lambs at these prices to the consumer is unreal,” said Leitch, who didn’t want to speculate what the final price would be for the lamb in grocery stores.
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“Right now there is a temporary shortage. As more lambs come on by June, I can’t see this lamb market holding as good as it is.”
At Beaver Hill Auction Services in Tofield, almost 1,200 head of sheep and goats sold during the April 6 special Easter sale. About 250 sheep sold at the St. Paul sale.
Miles Buswell, Beaver Hill’s sheep and goat sales manager, said prices were softer than in recent months, but were still strong, especially for the 400 new-crop lambs during the sale.
“The new-crop lambs are fancy looking. They’re slick, they’re clean, they’re fat. The old-crop lambs got shaggy wool. They’re just as good a product, they just don’t look as pretty,” said Buswell.
Lamb prices were down by $5-$30 per hundredweight from the previous month with old-crop lambs taking the hardest hit. Old-crop lambs under 70 pounds ranged from $130 to $147 per cwt. New-crop lambs the same weight ranged from $151 to $166 per cwt.
Heavier old-crop lambs 86-105 lb. ranged from $131 to $135 per cwt. New-crop lambs the same weight ranged from $142 to $145 per cwt.
As the new lambs continue to come to market, the remaining old crop lamb prices will continue to fall, said Buswell.
“If the same people would have sold the old crops a month ago, I’d have got $1.50-$1.60 a pound. Yesterday they brought $1.20-$1.45,” said Buswell, who expects buyers will continue to discount old-crop lambs.
“They look at the lambs and wonder why it weighs only 85-90 lb. and it’s almost a year old, when they can buy four to five month lambs that weight 100-120 lb. Why didn’t the producer put some more effort into it and finish the lambs sooner? It’s all management practices.
“We don’t need all the lambs to fatten at five months of age, but I’d like to see producers do a little better job. There’s no reason for lambs to be weighing 61 lb. at a year old.”
Most of Western Canada’s main buyers were at the sale looking for Easter sheep and lambs, which contributed to the strong prices.
“The producers can be very confident they got paid what their lambs were worth yesterday,” Buswell said.
“The buyer support was excellent. We’ve never had that many semis parked at a sheep sale.”
One 85 lb. lamb sold for $1.49 per lb. A 197 lb. bred ewe due to lamb in mid May brought $197.
“That’s big bucks.”
Goat prices were also “extremely hot,” said Buswell. He expects they may have set some record prices in Western Canada.
Young replacement females sold from $170 to $212.50 per cwt. Goat families sold equally high. A nanny with twins at side sold for $280 per family.
“It was a real good sale,” Buswell said.
