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4 Out of the woods and onto the podium Vol 21 No 21, June 5, 2023
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Global chill threatens lamb profits Neal Wallace
MARKETS
A
Lamb
SUDDEN, unexpected easing of global sheepmeat prices looks like reducing the usual premiums from winter lamb finishing this year. Meat companies are warning that prices, especially in China, have weakened in the past week or so, and the recovery experienced in autumn has not kicked on. AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad said flaps sold to China that made $US6/kg in January were averaging $US7.25 in April – but had fallen below $US7/kg by late May. Similarly, forequarters increased from $US4.60/kg in January to $US5.10/kg in April but were closer to $US5/kg by late May. The average value of export lamb in January was $10.73/kg and $11.03/kg in April. In April last year it was $12.40/kg. Store lamb sales quoted in last week’s Farmers Weekly were from $90 to $156, prices that indicate buyers believe the winter market will behave as it previously has and stay elevated or lift to levels of last year – which Croad doubts will happen. “We are not seeing that in overseas markets.” She said an abundance of feed and processor premiums due to a shortage of lambs for processing are influencing current prices.
“The lift in slaughter prices lately is procurement driven with some exchange rate support,” she said. “Processors are actively competing to secure what few lambs are on offer and in doing so are masking recent market weakness.” While the northern hemisphere summer is traditionally quiet for sheepmeat sales, many Chinese consumers used their savings to survive the lockdown, which has lowered consumption rates and increased inventory levels. Croad said China is still buying lamb, albeit at lower prices. Shipping volumes to China hit 15,000t in March and 14,000t in April, which exceeded the previous highest monthly volume shipped so far this year of 11,000t. “It was anticipated China would come flying out of the starting blocks when the covid restrictions were lifted and return to the hungry market it was, but that hasn’t happened.” Croad said the United Kingdom has not been the powerhouse market it previously was, with just 17,000t shipped there in the first seven months of the season compared to 40,000t for the same period five years ago. “Prices have been weaker and there is less reliance due to other markets performing better,” she said. Continued page 3
MOVING ON: Steve Wyn-Harris, right, hands Ditch to his new owner, John Wilkie.
That’ll do Ditch as hound finds new home FARMERS Weekly columnist Steve Wyn-Harris’s long-time companion, Ditch, is off to join a posse of blokes with not a bitch in sight. Wyn-Harris is moving off farm and no longer requires Ditch’s services. A plea went out to Farmers Weekly readers to help find a new home for the prized pooch, and plenty of offers came forward. There was Vonnie, who married a farmer and earned the respect of her sheep dog King after digging
him out of rabbit hole he’d got stuck in. Pat, “a somewhat elderly bitch” from Taihape with a retired vet as her owner, looked a strong contender. Then there was Lace, a sheep dog from Piopio in the King Country. She tried to entice Ditch by including a photo in her application. But it’s been decided: Ditch will head to a sheep and beef farm in Whangaehu, near Whanganui,
and join a team of like-minded canines, such as Bruce who once racked up a $4000 vet bill after requiring a ligament replacement. “None of my team know what a bitch is, just sometimes there might be a scrap over a bone,” said new owner John Wilkie. “In Ditch’s case, if he’s interested in stock work and can make himself useful, and is a bit of a character to boot, he’ll add to the fun round here.” – Craig Page
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New modelling gives insight into how earthquakes can radically alter the course of rivers.
An Ashburton farmer takes stock two years on from the floods that laid waste to his farm.
NEWS 7
OPINION 15
PEOPLE 18
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Photo: Jane Wyn-Harris
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