A shortage of lambs has created a spike in their price, but it will be short-lived, predicts Canada’s largest sheep feedlot operator.
“It’s only temporary,” said Roy Leitch of Brandon.
When January-born lambs start to come to market in a month, the price will begin to fall.
“Once the volume gets up, the price is going to come down,” said Leitch, who added it would be hard for him to find 1,000 new-crop lambs even if he added another 10 cents to existing prices.
“I’d have one tremendous job … getting those,” he said.
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According to the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board, prices for new-crop lambs are $1.20 a pound for over 80 lb. lambs and $1.25 a lb. for under 80 lb. lambs.
Old-crop lamb prices hover around $1.10 a lb. and cull sheep bring about 30 cents a lb.
“In a month’s time it’s going to be a whole different ball game,” said Leitch, who was trying to find a home for his 4,000 head of old-crop lambs that have been in the feedlot all winter.
Just like the cattle business, the sheep industry was affected with the closure of the American border because of BSE.
Before that, Leitch and others sold many of their lambs to American buyers.
With the border closed to all ruminants, including sheep, the main Canadian sheep market is in Ontario.
Bob Petty, a buyer for Sunterra Meats in Innisfail, Alta., said the strong prices are nothing unusual for this time of year when there is a shortage of lambs ready for market.
Sunterra buys its lamb on a rail grade price and applies premiums and grades to the dressed lambs. Petty said prices range from $1 to $1.15 a lb. for new-crop lambs.
He said in the past year sales have increased about 16 percent and it’s not unusual for the central Alberta processing plant to slaughter 1,500 head a week.
He believes the increased sales are a combination of factors including quality and an increased demand for Canadian lamb instead of frozen lamb from New Zealand and Australia.
“We’re displacing some of the offshore lamb coming in.”
About 75 percent of the meat is sold to Toronto area markets, he said.
