The warm autumn sunshine showed up at the latest sheep and goat sale at Winnipeg Livestock Auction, and so did plenty of hair sheep and lambs. Producers seemed intent on taking these animals to market before the cold temperatures arrive.
Many buyers seemed to be most interested in ewes and the prices ranged from $1.08 to $1.17/lb. A group of 148-pound sheared ewes brought $1.23/lb. In most cases, there appeared to be no price differences between wool and hair ewes at this sale, though the quality of the hair ewes wasn’t high enough to spark much interest.
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Rams were also in demand, for new season replacements or holiday purposes. The lighter-weight rams were more of interest than the very heavy rams. The average prices ranged from $1.29 to $1.49/lb. for rams weighing 118 to 155 pounds. A 255-pound Suffolk-cross ram brought $1.14/lb.
The heavyweight lambs were represented by two 125-pound Suffolk-cross lambs that brought $188.75 ($1.51/lb.). Another group of lambs hit the ring showing only uniform weight, not similar features, and buyers showed very little interest in these animals.
Market lambs saw lower bidding, with some pockets of strength in the heavier lambs weighing 103 to 107 pounds. Prices ranged on average from $1.32 to $1.58/lb., with a few animals hitting $1.80 to $1.82/lb., which clearly highlights buyer preference at this sale.
Once again the feeder lambs were in high demand, though the prices dropped slightly from the last sale, ranging from $1.90 to $1.94/lb. This was still noticeably better than the other classes at the sale. Hair lambs fell slightly lower in the price range.
The lightweight (70-plus-pound) lambs held and even increased bids. Hair lambs seemed to be at the lower end of the price range when compared to wool lambs. Wool lambs of this size saw prices ranging from $1.93 to $2.18/lb., while hair lambs ranged from $1.79 to $1.86/lb.
The 60-plus-pound lambs were represented by hair lambs, with a slight drop in the price bidding. The exotic lambs could not gain very much interest from buyers, including a group of Baby Doll lambs.
A group of 59-pound lambs showed quality and uniformity, a real eye-catcher for the buyers bringing $2.19/lb., while six 49-pound Katahdin-cross lambs brought $78.40 ($1.60/lb.).
In the goat sale it was an all-buck show as no goat does were delivered.
The classification was represented by a 170-pound Alpine-cross goat buck. This animal was ready to stir up a storm as soon as he entered the arena, full of fight and danger.
The group of four 63-pound goat kids consisted of two Alpine-cross goat kids and two Boer-cross goat kids. Since the supply was extremely limited, the bidding was exciting and very focused.
Ontario Stockyard Report indicated that all classifications had limited supply, so the bidding was strong. However, there was no major high or extremely high prices. Buyers kept within the standard price ranges.
