Dannevirke sheep prices reflect other regional sales

These 151 station prime ewes went for top price of $80 a head, sold by Bjorn Anderson. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Given the sheep schedule being the lowest at this time of the year for 20 years and the uncertainty of the weather forecast for early next year, expectations were not very high for the Dannevirke sheep sale on Thursday.

A bigger crowd added welcome competition this week. Photo / Dave Murdoch

But the recent rain and prevalence of grass, especially in Hawke’s Bay, bolstered prices a little, with bidding being quite competitive.

A top price of $147 to $150 was achieved for these excellent prime lambs. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Just over 800 prime sheep were auctioned in the Dannevirke sale, with the nearly 600 prime mixed-aged ewes averaging $70 a head and the 230 prime lambs averaging just over $120 ahead, a particularly good line reaching this season’s Dannevirke record of $147 to $150 a head.

These good store lambs went for $90/head. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Nearly 1200 store lambs went under the hammer, those with some size ranging between $80 and $91.50 per head and the balance ranging between $50 and $67 per head.