SHEEP PRICES RISING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21560, 3 August 1933, Page 10

SHEEP PRICES RISING

FURTHER ADVANCE OCCURS WETHERS UP TO 34s A HEAD MUTTON A DEAR MEAT* A further rise in the retail prices of mutton is possible as a result of the continued shortage in the market for fat sheep. At the weekly Westfield sale yesterday values advanced by from lis to 4s a head for all prime sorts, wethers selling up to 31s a head and ewes up to 29s 9d. It was thought the high prices established in the previous week might attract a larger entry, lint the yarding was a fair indication that there are not suflicient fat sheep available in. the province. Only about 2000 head were yarded, compared with an average offering of about 3000. The local trade found this number hardly sufficient for requirements and a rise in buying limits was essential. All lots sold under brisk competition.. Following is a comparison of top values in the first week of August during the past five years:—

The present market shortage is a direct result of heavy killings of lambs in recent years. The position will probably not right itself for a considerable time, but there should be some slight relief in a few weeks when farmers'are able to take dry ewes out of. their flocks. "Prices are really dangerously high," said a leading buyer yesterday. "They have no true bearing on value, being occasioned only by an extraordinary shortage in the domestic market. They are of little benefit to the farmers as a whole, because the very nature of the rise indicates that few can take advantage of it. When more are available a. return to more stable levels will take place."