Sheep producers are seeing record prices for their lambs in some categories, with high demand through the recent Easter season.
According to Morgan Moore, chair of the Manitoba Sheep Association, that’s consistent with the market patterns of previous years.
“The last five years, year over year, our peak price per pound realized for the lambs has exceeded the previous year,” he said.
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Like most other livestock producers, feed prices have added a sour start to 2022 for sheep and lamb producers in Manitoba, even with the offset of high prices at the auction mart.
Prices this year were into the $5.50-per-pound range for 80-pound lambs in the east, he added.
March 16 prices in Winnipeg — the most recent available at time of writing — show lambs under 60 pounds (lbs.) sold for an average of $368 per hundredweight (cwt), up from about $348 per cwt at the same time last year. Lambs between 60 and 80 lbs. sold at an average of $325/cwt, down from about $371/cwt last year.
Lambs between 80 and 100 lbs. sold at an average of $319/cwt this year, and those over 100 lbs. sold at an average of $298/cwt.
Average prices had jumped anywhere from $17/cwt (60-80 lbs.) to $63/cwt (over 100 lbs.) compared to a sale two weeks previous, on March 2.
Market reports posted by the Beef Farmers of Ontario show that in sales April 8-14, lambs under 50 lbs. sold at an average of $471/cwt; 50- to 64-lb. lambs sold for $451/cwt; between 65 and 79 lbs. sold at an average of over $414/cwt, and between 80 and 94 lbs. sold at about $381/cwt.
Prices earlier this year were also “fairly strong,” said Maaike Borst, who farms near Elm Creek. She sold some lambs at Easter, but said her family generally plans to sell earlier as prices tend to pick up in January and February.
She noted lamb prices were already fairly good in December, owing, she said, to producers selling earlier due to drought stresses.
A December price report from the province reported lamb prices between $254-$312.50/cwt at a Winnipeg sale Dec. 15. Similar reports in January and February showed ranges between $249.50-$320/cwt, depending on weight class. Sales in Grunthal reported averages between $257.50-$293.75/cwt in December and $295-$337.50/cwt in late January.
Feed price
Strong prices make high feed prices easier to stomach, said Moore, but added that, “high-priced feed takes a bite out of the excitement for the lamb prices.”
“It’s crazy,” Dauphin-area farmer Tina Shaw said of her feed prices. “It’s double what it should be.”
Shaw said they buy their feed and have been able to source plenty despite last year’s drought conditions — but they’ve paid through the nose for it.
Two years ago, barley was $3.75 a bushel, Shaw said. Last year they paid $8 a bushel.
Borst said they’ve sometimes had to calculate if it made sense to keep lambs until they reached market weight, or if they should sell sooner.
Snowfall over Easter caused another headache for producers who have young lambs or who are lambing.
It’s made it all the more urgent to spot ewes about to give birth and to get them inside, Shaw said.
“It’s hard when you’re trying to keep so many babies warm and dry,” Shaw said. “It’s been a more challenging year for sure.”
Borst said they were done lambing when it snowed, but the extra cold and moisture led to the loss of some lambs.
