There was something notably lacking at the annual Feilding Marton Hogget Fair this year and that was the stars of the show – the hoggets. Volume dropped to just 6500, the smallest yarding on record, and a far cry from the 15,000 penned only last year and just over half of the smallest recorded fair in 2017.
The fair has held a regular slot on the calendar since starting in Marton in 1906, though it has evolved from a ewe hogget replacement opportunity to a fair that now provides more in the way of finished lambs.
And therein lies the reasoning behind the very low volume comparative to other years.
A wet and wild winter – some would call it a normal one – has left paddocks underwater and grass struggling to grow through the puddles, despite relatively warm temperatures.
The wet, along with a lack of sunshine, has meant growth rates for hoggets has been slow and they have not reached weights that sellers were prepared to offer to the current market.
Many farmers have not been able to have the shearers in either and were not prepared to take the discount that selling woolly hoggets would have created.
Also factored into many decisions to hold off was selling in an environment that is lacking in demand due to very limited space.
Processor space has been at a premium all season and has been one of the elements of 2022 that finishers will not look fondly on, but at present a larger number of bobby calves are the priority and, like the lamb kill, will be a slower process due to staff shortages.
All these factors increased the reluctance to sell hoggets into what was expected to be a deflated market.
PGG Wrightson agent Maurice Stewart echoed those sentiments following the fair.
“The hoggets are out there but were just not ready for this fair. They either need shearing or are not up to where sellers would like them. One vendor who would usually supply around 5-6k to the market was not ready as the hoggets had not yet been shorn.”
Stewart said the smaller volume met the demand and the market ticked over better than expected.
“The fair was all over in an hour and prices were right up there, even on the more store types, but a larger yarding would have been very difficult to sell.”
AgriHQ data shows that the sale averaged 43kg liveweight, down 1kg on last year, and the average price dropped from $189 to $181.
This level is still one of the highest on record, bettered only by last year and 2019, and similar to 2018.
The top male hoggets sold for $229-$243 and ewe hoggets $200-$215.
Stewart said another hogget fair is planned for early September to cater for those that were not ready.
“We are looking to hold another hogget fair in early September, which is common, but will likely be a bigger event than it has been in past years, since many were not ready to offload now.”
This article was written by AgriHQ analyst Suz Bremner. Suz leads the AgriHQ LivestockEye team, including data collectors who are tasked with being on the ground at sale yards throughout the country. Subscribe to AgriHQ reports here.
