Taking control of prime lamb marketing with Abblamb

selling platform Farmgate Auctions to refi ne a system which gives a dollars per head price on lambs before they leave the farm gate. To use Abblamb, vendors and processors simply register for free on the FarmGate Auctions website. “The listing cost for vendors is $1.50 per lamb with no transport costs incurred. Vendors have the opportunity to reject an offer on their listed stock,” Mr Fraser said. “In comparison to a physical saleyard where meat buyers assess lambs visually and estimate their dressed weights, Abblamb will present liveweights of every individual lamb and the lots will be drafted into categories from light trade to light and heavy export.”

On-farm livestock assessments will be carried out by independent assessors with each lamb individually weighed with EID details for the processors. Delivery can be the same day or by arrangement. Lots will be offered each day from 8am (7.30am in South Australia) and based on regions along the eastern seaboard and South Australia featuring physical sales that particular day for ease of transport logistics. Vendors are given two opportunities to sell their lambs before the stock are reassessed. “Producers enter how long the lambs have been off feed and shrinkage rates are calculated automatically,” Mr Fraser said.

The digital auctions will run for around 10 minutes with each lot closing as it is sold, unlike other sales platforms where all lots remain open until the end of the sale. Mr Fraser said the low carbon footprint of the Abblamb selling system had been welcomed by many producers. “Going from farm direct to the processor rather than being trucked to the saleyards and then being loaded onto another truck, helps improve animal welfare and biosecurity, and reduce the carbon footprint,” he said.

“We are going through challenging times in the lamb market both domestically and globally, and people are looking for marketing options.

“As a producer, I was losing interest in breeding prime lambs with the lack of a fair place to sell my lambs. The drawbacks of over the hook, you would be in the queue for about four weeks with no guarantee of price per kilogram and skin value.”

FarmGate Auctions director Richard Norton said Abblamb reassured processors of access to lambs on-farm every day.

“The fi rst sale day is the public holiday of October 2. Agents can list lambs up to midnight the day before and sell them on a public holiday allowing processors to process them the next day,” Mr Norton said. Daniel Croker, Nutrien Ag Solutions livestock manager, Goulburn, said Abblamb would give agents additional avenues of market exposure of their client’s stock without leaving the paddock. Mr Croker said the new system would drive fi nancial benefits for producers, agents and processors across the board. “It will give more control over the market price and there will be benefits for the producer, agent and processor. For the producer to be able to promote what they are doing in terms of their prime lamb product is important for processors to see, in order for the producer to achieve that next level of price,” he said.

“In regard to the processor, lambs are weighed into their optimal weight ranges, whether that be trade, heavy trade or export, to give the advantage of maximising grid specifications. Going straight from paddock to processor optimises animal welfare, lifts the kill average and improves eating quality for the consumer.” Abblamb caters for prime lambs only with feeder sales at 9am each Friday for store lambs.

Sale times: Monday NSW: Dubbo, Tamworth, Corowa – 8am AEST, VIC: Bendigo – 8am AEST; Tuesday SA: Naracoorte, Dublin – 7.30am AEST, NSW: Forbes – 8am AEST VIC: Ballarat – 8am AEST, TAS – 8am AEST. Wednesday SA – Mt Gambier –7.30am AEST, NSW: Cowra/Carcoar, Yass – 8am AEST, VIC: Hamilton, Horsham – 8am AEST, QLD: Queensland – 8am AEST. Thursday NSW: Wagga Wagga – 8am AEST, VIC: Kyneton, Swan Hill – 8am AEST. Friday NSW: Griffith – 8am AEST, VIC: Shepparton – 8am AEST. Feeder Friday (store lambs) 9am AEST.

For further details please contact Rob Fraser on 0457 956 088. FarmGate Auctions General Manager: Chanel Gallen 0431 465 079.

Malleetech Poll Merino

Mallleetech Poll Merino has been breeding robust, paddock reared, fertile and heavy wool producing sheep in the heart of the Murray Mallee for over 30 years. Early in the process of setting up the stud David Smith, the stud principal, realised the importance of recording the full parentage of the progeny to maximise the overall generational genetic gain of the animal. To achieve this the ewes are mated to a single sire and then at lambing the progeny are matched to their dam in a time consuming but worthwhile process.

Knowing the pedigree of the animal is only half the battle however as data must be collected on each animal to ensure the greatest genetic gain is being achieved. We have been using Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBV’s) since 1999 to leverage the data collected on farm and to be able to accurately compare our sheep to any throughout Australia. Fleece weights, staple strength, eye muscle and fat depth, body weights, weaning rate and many other traits have all been used to give us the versatile and strong producing Malleetech sheep we have today and often in the top 5% of Australia.

Our rams are given no special treatment in the paddock, what you see on sale day is what you get. This also

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helps us to notice any poor performers genetically that may have been able to avoid detection under a more lenient management system. Since 2021 no animals have been mulesed at Malleetech as we aim to breed the easiest care and plainest sheep possible.

Malleetech Sire 200119 was recently used in the South Australian Sire evaluation trial where he performed very well all round, topping the results in body weight, eye muscle depth, back fat, fleece weight and staple strength. Progeny of this sire and others like him will be available at the up coming Ram Sale on the 23rd of August on farm and on AuctionsPlus.

To find out more please visit www.malleetech.com