I REALLY hate repetition, but it seems that every year the same old problem arises in sheep and lamb markets across the state.
As soon as there is any quantity of green feed about there are multitudes of lambs in particular yarded in a quagmire of faeces.
Any lamb producers who think they are going to gain any advantage by selling lambs that look full are kidding themselves.
Even in these buoyant times buyers do not need much of an excuse to discount any pen of lambs.
Vendors of sheep and lambs mired in pens of sloppy green manure are not going to get the returns that properly emptied lambs will fetch.
It seems to be a strange anomaly that the rule of thumb is that the shorter the distance the lambs have to travel to market, the less likely they are to be emptied-out properly.
It probably seems like a good idea to run the lambs in from the paddock on a Monday afternoon, draft them up and deliver them bright and early Tuesday morning.
Sure, they look full and fresh but the discount for stained skins and the general distaste shown by the buyers will result in a painful hip pocket experience for the vendor.
While I am whingeing about sheep and lamb vendors, I might as well have a go at the few producers who still have not bothered to upgrade their National Vendor Declaration books.
There are not many, but enough to be an irritant to agents and buyers.
There was an example recently where a reasonably large consignment of ewes were offered at Dublin.
As soon as the agent announced that the sheep were accompanied only by an old declaration, the exporters walked on to the next pen.
Of course, this usually allows domestic operators to move in and buy, but in this case the numbers involved exceeded the small butchers' capacity, so one canny entrepreneur bought the lot at a vastly reduced rate.
I am sure that the ewes have since been slaughtered at an export works with all of the correct paperwork at a considerable profit for the willing punter.
For the sake of a bit of time and the cost of an NVD book, the vendor could have avoided a loss of an estimated $20 to $30 a head on a fair wing of sheep – nothing to be sneezed at.
On a brighter note, it was heartening to see a really good line-up of fresh, crossbred sucker lambs at Dublin on Tuesday.
One vendor in the CIAA sale had an absolute, rip-tearing sale. Richard and Carol Horstmann, Milendella, sold their entire drop of White Suffolk-Merino lambs. The 796 fresh-as-paint juveniles sold to $149, to average a staggering $134.30.
