ADDINGTON MARKET

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22355, 19 March 1938, Page 12

ADDINGTON MARKET

OLD EWES A DRUG

EASIER ALL-ROUND VALUES

A feature of the pennings of store ewes at Addington this autumn is the exceptionally heavy proportion of .old sheep. On Wednesday they were a drug on the market, and the influence they had on the demand for young sheep eventually had an easing on the latter. The young ewes have not shown such a decline at the fairs as was expected, although they were scarcely up to the usual number, but a minor cause of this is that the shoals of old ewes appear to have been reserved for Addington. This is natural, no doubt, as many of these small lots come from paddock farms, where they were used another season on account of the dear market last year for breeding sheep of all sorts. In effect, two year’s supply of old ewes is being marketed, and with young sneep fairly reasonable in price—or at all* events substantially lower than last year—there is a general move to pass the old ewes on. It would be difficult to estimate how big the proportion was of aged ewes at Wednesday’s market, but no autumn sale for years has exceeded’ it in that respect. It was thought that Tuesday’s Sheffield fair might have. been, something in the way of a “catch” sale, and that prices would improve at Addington. However, such did not prove the case. In the earlier part of the day some good lines of two-tooths ranged about SQs. but later on exceptionally good drafts failed to attract even that figure. On some of the fairs values were down by up to 5s or 6s a head for two-tooths. Where good-mouthed sheep were forward amongst the older pennings there was a fair demand at less than this difference, but still ewe fair values were far from reached. Some of the

old-timers drew bids of from 2s 6d up, and ewes that appeared in quite moderate condition, but with no mouths to help, them, were considered worth no more than 6s or 7s. Some fair sorts made from 10s to 12s. and quite good sound and failing mouthed went at 13s to 15s.

The entry was the biggest of the season, and as the market has dropped sufficiently to make Importation of ewes from the south far from attractive the market may be better able to absorb local offerings. The drought in Central Otago caused many thousands of ewes to be sent up to the Tinwald fair, where close on 50,000 were offered on Monday and Tuesday, and this reduced the competition on Wednesday. Now that rain has fallen in the south the influx will probably decline, but against this, winter feed prospects there are poor, and early frosts will stop much response in growth from the rain. The rain has come too late to assist in any more than a partial relief. Marlborough ewes are still arriving in numbers, and on Wednesday they were a rather poor lot, and assisted to keep the competition down. With average young ewes reasonable in price there is very little competition for the derelicts. It is rather a good feature in the long run. It will assist to maintain—or rather arrest the deterioration —in our lamb breeding flocks. This, again, should remove some of the anxiety we hear expressed about the slipping quality of our lamb. When the ewe fairs opened at Amberley the prices generally were considered quite high enough, although not dangerously so, but the subsequent hardening did not seem to have been warranted. The reaction has brought the value of good medium young ewes down below the early fair values, although outstanding lines show little difference. As an instance, a pen of 142 'strong-woolled two-tooths on Wednesday sold at 38s. or about fair values. STORE LAMBS Although the store lamb entry was substantially less than that of the week before, the market failed to hold. Carry-over lambs apparently are far from attractive buying. Root crops, though good in some districts, are patchy and poor in others, and with ewes as the main consideration, few farmers want to carry lambs through the winter, with all the trouble that a bad season brings yjn its wake. The slightly easier lamb schedule doubtless had some effect on the price of rape lambs, particularly as this. crop has gone off badly in the inland districts on account of the drying weather. Singularly enough, the coastal belt has hacL much, moret-thart. amplq supply o£