If this sale is a sign of what is to come, we are in for a very difficult period if no rain is forthcoming.
Last week's lamb market did seem unrealistically strong even at the time and made this week's fall even more noticeable.
Over 18,000 lambs were consigned, many from regions that have not had rain for some weeks, but the problem is that potential buyers are also now facing the prospect of dry conditions and crops have not germinated let alone grow.
A couple of pens sold well at the start of the sale - Rorokoko, Masterton, sold 284 mixed-sex, blackface lambs for $115 after some fierce bidding, with Roger Woodruffe, Sanson, selling 131 for $101 and Brent Williamson, Waituna West, selling 157 cryptorchids for $100.50 being the only other lambs over $100/head. The heavier lambs dropped by around 10 cents/kg but the medium and lighter lambs, which made up the bulk of the yarding were down by up to $20/head in many cases. Lots of pens were passed in at auction and many pens did not receive a single bid which will make it hard to find them a home. The problem will not improve without some significant and well-spread rain so next week's sale will be vulnerable too with this size of entry.
The sale began with 420 ewes with lambs at foot and almost all of them were ewes that had lambed as hoggets and consequently were very small and sold accordingly.
The dry conditions also impacted on the cattle market although, to be fair, there was not the quality offered in the two year old steer section this week.
