The final sale before Easter saw 275 sheep and goats pass through the ring at the Winnipeg Livestock Auction.
There were both individual animals and large groups on offer this sale, and the sale was locally dominated as the proximity to the holiday ruled out any timely transportation to Eastern Canada.
This may account for the major drop in prices from the last sale.
In the sheep sale, quality ewes brought strong bidding, but still much lower than the last sale. Prices ranged from $1.13 to $1.17/lb. for possible herd improvement uses. Questionable ewes brought a price ranging from $0.89 to $0.90/lb. The sheared ewes received no advantage, but rather showed the deficiencies.
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The hair rams represented the majority of the rams. There was a slight drop in the bidding. A 225-pound Suffolk-cross ram got some attention by the buyers and some excitement until the bidding reached $1.23/lb.
Seven 103-pound Katahdin-cross lambs brought $1.88/lb. A 95-pound wool lamb brought $2.73/lb.
The selection of feeder lambs was very limited. The focus for the buyers was Easter and not to replace animals and fill the feedlots.
The lightweight lambs created some active bidding, as these lambs met with the local Easter buyers. The price ranged from $2.40 to $2.86/lb. An exception was two 73-pound Rideau-cross lambs which brought $2.93/lb. After this weight class, the bidding was based upon the buyer’s choice. There seemed to be no pattern — only based upon the choice.
The 60-plus lambs saw a large margin between two price groups. Five 66-pound Dorper-cross and Katahdin-cross lambs brought $1.91/lb. Thirteen 62-pound lambs brought $2.53/lb.
The 50-plus lambs copied this pattern. Three 53-pound Suffolk-cross lambs brought $2.15/lb. Twelve 50-pound Dorper-cross lambs brought $2.68/lb.
The 30-plus lambs provided 13 35-pound lambs which brought $1.31/lb. A 30-pound lamb brought $1/lb.
The new-crop lambs arrived for the first time of the year. Twelve 60-pound Suffolk-cross lambs brought $2.85/lb. A group of 10 61-pound Clun Forest-cross and Suffolk-cross lambs brought $2.99/lb.
Buyers seeking goats saw a much smaller supply than the last sale. There appeared to be an influx of Pygmy-cross goats, of all classes. The bidding was a struggle for the auctioneer. There was clearly no interest in the Pygmy goats’ smaller structure.
One dairy goat doe was of small structure, with some Pygmy bloodline along with Alpine-cross. The Pygmy-cross goat does, just did not get any strong or exciting bidding. The price ranged from $0.86 to $0.99/lb.
The goat buck class had a combination of wethers and natural bucks. The prices ranged from $1.66 to $1.92/lb. An exception was a 90-pound Pygmy goat buck that brought $2.56/lb. Another exception was a group of two 68-pound Pygmy-cross bucklings which brought $2.21/lb.
The prices for the goat kids could not maintain the level of the last sale. There was quite a decrease at the sale. There seemed to be no obvious reason in the quality and weight of the goat kids.
The Ontario Stockyard Report had positive bidding on the sheep and goats that were for immediate selling. There were some higher prices as well. The new-crop lambs did not follow, but slightly dropped.
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