Beef / Lamb & Pig Price Tracker

bluepower

Member
Livestock Farmer
Okay folks it just gets worse...

Trade slumps yet again at both Exeter and Sedge today for lambs even thou numbers were well down on last weeks entry's.

Exeter SQQ 170.4pk down 13.8pk on the week

Sedge SQQ 173.5pk down 9.4pk on the week

Far far too many lean lambs of all weights entered by all accounts which is not helping the trade.
The auctioneers should not accept thse lean unfinished lambs they should be graded before the sale and then sold after the fat lambs. In the current situation all it is doing is dragging down the liveweight average which then in turn pulls down the deadweight price. It is time some responsible auctioneer grasped the reality of what they are doing and stopped thinking about their commission all the time.

Perhaps I am wrong but that is how i perceive the current market trade.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
Is there not a grader at all markets? At every market ive been to which admitedly isnt a lot there is a grader that goes through pens marking anything that is too lean. They get sold seperatley from the fat ones.
yes grader at sedge , same one at frome , but under finished sold along with fats (although marked ) would be better sold at the end really , might discourage being brought forward , as i think some fat buyers take some for throughput so they get enough , which puts price pressure on late sold fats , That said i sold some zwart wethers last year that didnt grade , but a very experienced seller took some not so good deadweight week before and they graded fine , so maybe the grader is a bit to careful and fat buyers know it /
 

ford4000

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
north Wales
Is there not a grader at all markets? At every market ive been to which admitedly isnt a lot there is a grader that goes through pens marking anything that is too lean. They get sold seperatley from the fat ones.
I was going to ask the same thing. Graders keep the quality up. ..even if we don't always agree with them....
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
yes grader at sedge , same one at frome , but under finished sold along with fats (although marked ) would be better sold at the end really , might discourage being brought forward , as i think some fat buyers take some for throughput so they get enough , which puts price pressure on late sold fats , That said i sold some zwart wethers last year that didnt grade , but a very experienced seller took some not so good deadweight week before and they graded fine , so maybe the grader is a bit to careful and fat buyers know it /
I told him when he marked 1 as too lean that it would go with the dw ones next day and it would be at least a 2, which it was.
Just don't get why the hit they fat ones so hard dw, but want them fatter lw.
 
Last edited:
The auctioneers should not accept thse lean unfinished lambs they should be graded before the sale and then sold after the fat lambs. In the current situation all it is doing is dragging down the liveweight average which then in turn pulls down the deadweight price. It is time some responsible auctioneer grasped the reality of what they are doing and stopped thinking about their commission all the time.

Perhaps I am wrong but that is how i perceive the current market trade.
Totally agree.
 

goodevans

Member
green markets would be better if graded as at least vendor could take thin ones home or sell to other farmers,both local markets here(Ludlow and Bridgnorth) are red
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
I was going to ask the same thing. Graders keep the quality up. ..even if we don't always agree with them....
A lot HATE the grader at ruthin but every time (and it might be one a year) that ive had one marked as a reject i can tell the difference in them. Not usually that its too thin but it just doesnt match the rest of the pen.
A grader does definetly keep the standard up. I heard some say that it was a grader not doing his job properly at Bala was the reason the market has gone poor there. People were putting any old thing in the pen with fat lambs knowing the grader wouldnt check them or would pass them anyway. Buyers didnt take long to realise and they stopped coming or priced and bought them as stores instead. I havent been to Bala since i was at school so i dont know if that is true but it makes sense.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
In the marts with graders, are the lambs sold in a ring or in the pens? Up here they are sold in a ring and the byers can handle the sheep themselves.
All sold in pens. Buyer can handle them before or during the sale. I think the grader does a lot to make sure all the lambs in the pen are evenly finished and match each other as wel as picking out any leaner ones. That way the buyer only has to handle one lamb to get a good idea of how fit the pen is.
 

gwi1890

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North wales
A lot HATE the grader at ruthin but every time (and it might be one a year) that ive had one marked as a reject i can tell the difference in them. Not usually that its too thin but it just doesnt match the rest of the pen.
A grader does definetly keep the standard up. I heard some say that it was a grader not doing his job properly at Bala was the reason the market has gone poor there. People were putting any old thing in the pen with fat lambs knowing the grader wouldnt check them or would pass them anyway. Buyers didnt take long to realise and they stopped coming or priced and bought them as stores instead. I havent been to Bala since i was at school so i dont know if that is true but it makes sense.

New grader there now but the damage has been done its only a matter of time till the place closes down
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
In the marts with graders, are the lambs sold in a ring or in the pens? Up here they are sold in a ring and the byers can handle the sheep themselves.

I've never been to a market that didn't have a grader touching all the lambs, nor to a market where fat lambs are sold through a ring. I've always had lambs weighed and penned on arrival, then stay in those pens until loaded onto the buyer's lorries. I always assumed selling through a ring was a Northern thing. How do you hide the lame one?:sneaky::stop:
 

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