September 1, 2026 • 8 mins
Shane Gerken of PGG Wrightson puts some context around the record price for lamb at Lorneville Saleyards this week.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
And calling to the faraway towns Now war is declared
Welcome back to the muster on Hokanui. Well, the stock
prices that came out of Longville yesterday, arguably one of
the highest you'll ever see, $ 506 for a fat prime lamb.
And we almost need a bit of context about why
this is happening. Is it sustainable and the like? So
(00:23):
on the line is Shane Gerakin. He is South Island
Livestock Manager for PDG Wrightson. And he's going to give
us an understanding about what these prices are like and
how long are we going to see them for? Shane,
good afternoon. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thanks, Andy. Pleased to be here to talk to you,
to your listeners. No problem. So I'll just guess probably
on Ruanval. I've done a bit of homework, but yes,
you're right. It was only for one sheep. Apparently that
sheep or lamb was 45 to 50 kilos. deadweight so
it was a monster and I think to be fair
there was a bit of probably fun between a couple
of buyers just where they could take it to and
(01:00):
you're right that $ 506 did achieve that but certainly we're
not seeing that as the norm that's certainly an extraordinary
through the sale yards yeah so that's a bit of
context around that Andy.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So that was almost like a joke between a couple
of buyers like oh we've gone this high what can
we get to create a bit of a storm?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
A bit of that, yeah, exactly. So on one sheep
it wasn't going to really matter too much, but it
certainly got the bloody media and social media gossiping around
the tracks, no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, we're still seeing an average price for a few
pens of lambs in the $ 400 bracket nonetheless, Shane, especially
at Lawnville over the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, and they'll be probably, again, they'll be heavy, heavy lambs.
probably studs that have been culled, Andy. So hence, if
you multiply that by $ 12, $ 12 and a bit, um,
it doesn't take much, say for a 30 kilo lamb
or a 35, uh, kilo deadweight lamb, uh, to make
that over that 400 bucks, um, for that. But as
(02:04):
I say, that's, that's very extraordinary rather than being, um, normal. Normally,
if you're seeing through the sale yards, you can get
anywhere sort of between that sort of 20 to 30
kilo lamb. And, um, and it's just not one or two,
you're probably talking pen falls to them, so that'll probably
give you a true reflection of where that pricing is
around here.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So who's paying that money for a lamb? Is it butchers?
Is it third party? What is it?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Butcher, yeah, butchers, third parties are buying, so on behalf
of third parties, so yeah, probably the main two, that's
happening there, and a few going direct into processes, but certainly...
that's where the market's been around the sale yards through
the South Island.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, sale yards up north and especially around your neck
of the woods there at Colgate, I think a pen
of lambs going $ 460 over the past fortnight. So it's
just not the one area we're seeing these prices. It
certainly seems to be up and down the island. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
And again, look, it's probably earlier comment, Andy, it's heavy
lambs and hence, you know, they can pay that. But
as I say, it's, As I say, that's not the
run-of-the-mill lambs that are coming through the system around that.
But saying that, we're seeing lambs, as I said earlier,
$ 12 a kilo plus. And certainly, if you looked on
(03:26):
last year, we're probably a good couple of bucks a
kilo ahead of that, which is good. And this year, particularly,
there hasn't been the volumes of lamb coming through. And
that's normal, but we're just probably seeing, just looking, if
you look on the weekly kill, those numbers have definitely
dropped back off from this time last year. And we
probably won't see an uptake or an increase in lamb
(03:49):
numbers for the next two to three weeks. Normally July, August,
because of the cold and wet, can be really challenging.
And so once we see the weather improve, get spring,
we'll see these lambs starting to move and hence the
numbers will increase going forward. So, yeah, so I would think,
(04:10):
you know, they're sort of talking main season. It'll have
a 10 in front of it, which I think is
still outstanding money. But obviously the next few months there
will be premiums paid for winter lambs to obviously meet
markets for overseas. So, and that's always been my time
in the business. That's always been the way.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Shane, probably a good chance to give a little bit
of context around the sale yards as well in regards
to how the selling process works because it all depends
on buyers on the day, forward orders. You hear about
possibly Easter or Christmas contracts and things like that all
comes into the equation. I suppose just briefly, just describe
to those that aren't aware of it how the sale
yards actually operates and we see these fluctuations.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, good question, Andy. A lot of it's around supply
and demand. And I think, you know, if you've got
stuff going through the sale yards and if there is
a special order, which we do get now and again,
comes through, or there's a surplus of feed, you'll see
that demand for livestock through the yards. And I guess
the good thing about it isn't even playing field. So,
(05:15):
you know, you have got buyers that will line up,
they'll prepare to bid to what they think the value
is of those animals, and then it's a true and
fair contest I guess, for each of those guys that
purchased that livestock. So, yeah, that's generally how that works.
But as you say, it can fluctuate. And a lot
of that probably is around its feed conditions, especially for store.
(05:38):
It feeds tight. Obviously, we haven't got that demand coming
through the yards. But to be fair, the yards are
used as a benchmark for on-farm sales as well. or
private sale, as we call it. And so, yeah, the
sale yards has a big bearing on what's paid around
(05:58):
the place.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Shane, we look at the beef market. It's looking pretty
positive heading into spring.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, it is. You know, we've seen probably a big
increase from last year. You know, if you looked at, say,
bull and steer, you're probably looking at $ 1. 50, what we
were getting this last year, and cow a buck. But
what's probably just dampening things a wee bit, Andy, is
that the states, you know, they have just released 300,000
(06:25):
tonne of quota to South America, Argentina, or sorry, Brazil.
And so that's 100,000 tonnes they're going to export into
the US tariff-free each month. And hence, you know, that
has put a bit of pressure on our grinder beef,
that's our bull and cow beef. And we've seen shingles
(06:46):
come back in the last week, two weeks, by 20
or 30 cents a kilo. So that will have an impact. Now,
what we don't know is just how much impact that
will have going forward. But certainly, if you look at
the states, and probably what's the driver behind that is
that their beef herd is the lowest since the late 1940s.
(07:08):
And hence, that's why they have been very active in
the beef market. So They want to reduce that pricing,
so hence that's why South America has got that 300,000
tonne quota for the next three months.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Just finally, Shane, it's fair to say the positives are
outweighing the negatives as we head into springtime, especially down
here in the Deep South. Weather aside, I don't know,
how long can we see these highs stay up for
in the red meat industry?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Well, I'd like to, personally, I'd like to see it forever.
The boom and bust cycle, we just cannot work on,
whereas you see prices go up and then they come
down sharply. I still think, you know, if you look
at your sheep meats, the whole sheep meats, and I'm
talking world scene here, is the lowest we've ever seen.
So that supply and demand is working well, and that
(07:59):
will continue. It's a very good product, and New Zealand
is recognised of producing a very good product. So, I
think going forward I'd like to see that both beef
and sheep meats will stay up reasonably strong and hence
very positive that going forward we're going to see some
(08:23):
good results on pricing.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Good on you, Shane. Thanks for your time on the
muster this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Thanks, Andy. Great to speak to you. Cheers.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
South Island Livestock Manager for PGG Rights, and putting it
into perspective, that price around that $ 506 lamb, singular yesterday
at Longville, but hey, hell of a price, isn't it?
Some expensive little lamb chops going there. Up next from
Dairy NZ, Nicola Blair.
And calling to the faraway towns Now war is declared
Welcome back to the muster on Hokanui. Well, the stock
prices that came out of Longville yesterday, arguably one of
the highest you'll ever see, $ 506 for a fat prime lamb.
And we almost need a bit of context about why
this is happening. Is it sustainable and the like? So
(00:23):
on the line is Shane Gerakin. He is South Island
Livestock Manager for PDG Wrightson. And he's going to give
us an understanding about what these prices are like and
how long are we going to see them for? Shane,
good afternoon. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thanks, Andy. Pleased to be here to talk to you,
to your listeners. No problem. So I'll just guess probably
on Ruanval. I've done a bit of homework, but yes,
you're right. It was only for one sheep. Apparently that
sheep or lamb was 45 to 50 kilos. deadweight so
it was a monster and I think to be fair
there was a bit of probably fun between a couple
of buyers just where they could take it to and
(01:00):
you're right that $ 506 did achieve that but certainly we're
not seeing that as the norm that's certainly an extraordinary
through the sale yards yeah so that's a bit of
context around that Andy.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So that was almost like a joke between a couple
of buyers like oh we've gone this high what can
we get to create a bit of a storm?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
A bit of that, yeah, exactly. So on one sheep
it wasn't going to really matter too much, but it
certainly got the bloody media and social media gossiping around
the tracks, no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, we're still seeing an average price for a few
pens of lambs in the $ 400 bracket nonetheless, Shane, especially
at Lawnville over the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, and they'll be probably, again, they'll be heavy, heavy lambs.
probably studs that have been culled, Andy. So hence, if
you multiply that by $ 12, $ 12 and a bit, um,
it doesn't take much, say for a 30 kilo lamb
or a 35, uh, kilo deadweight lamb, uh, to make
that over that 400 bucks, um, for that. But as
(02:04):
I say, that's, that's very extraordinary rather than being, um, normal. Normally,
if you're seeing through the sale yards, you can get
anywhere sort of between that sort of 20 to 30
kilo lamb. And, um, and it's just not one or two,
you're probably talking pen falls to them, so that'll probably
give you a true reflection of where that pricing is
around here.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So who's paying that money for a lamb? Is it butchers?
Is it third party? What is it?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Butcher, yeah, butchers, third parties are buying, so on behalf
of third parties, so yeah, probably the main two, that's
happening there, and a few going direct into processes, but certainly...
that's where the market's been around the sale yards through
the South Island.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, sale yards up north and especially around your neck
of the woods there at Colgate, I think a pen
of lambs going $ 460 over the past fortnight. So it's
just not the one area we're seeing these prices. It
certainly seems to be up and down the island. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
And again, look, it's probably earlier comment, Andy, it's heavy
lambs and hence, you know, they can pay that. But
as I say, it's, As I say, that's not the
run-of-the-mill lambs that are coming through the system around that.
But saying that, we're seeing lambs, as I said earlier,
$ 12 a kilo plus. And certainly, if you looked on
(03:26):
last year, we're probably a good couple of bucks a
kilo ahead of that, which is good. And this year, particularly,
there hasn't been the volumes of lamb coming through. And
that's normal, but we're just probably seeing, just looking, if
you look on the weekly kill, those numbers have definitely
dropped back off from this time last year. And we
probably won't see an uptake or an increase in lamb
(03:49):
numbers for the next two to three weeks. Normally July, August,
because of the cold and wet, can be really challenging.
And so once we see the weather improve, get spring,
we'll see these lambs starting to move and hence the
numbers will increase going forward. So, yeah, so I would think,
(04:10):
you know, they're sort of talking main season. It'll have
a 10 in front of it, which I think is
still outstanding money. But obviously the next few months there
will be premiums paid for winter lambs to obviously meet
markets for overseas. So, and that's always been my time
in the business. That's always been the way.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Shane, probably a good chance to give a little bit
of context around the sale yards as well in regards
to how the selling process works because it all depends
on buyers on the day, forward orders. You hear about
possibly Easter or Christmas contracts and things like that all
comes into the equation. I suppose just briefly, just describe
to those that aren't aware of it how the sale
yards actually operates and we see these fluctuations.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, good question, Andy. A lot of it's around supply
and demand. And I think, you know, if you've got
stuff going through the sale yards and if there is
a special order, which we do get now and again,
comes through, or there's a surplus of feed, you'll see
that demand for livestock through the yards. And I guess
the good thing about it isn't even playing field. So,
(05:15):
you know, you have got buyers that will line up,
they'll prepare to bid to what they think the value
is of those animals, and then it's a true and
fair contest I guess, for each of those guys that
purchased that livestock. So, yeah, that's generally how that works.
But as you say, it can fluctuate. And a lot
of that probably is around its feed conditions, especially for store.
(05:38):
It feeds tight. Obviously, we haven't got that demand coming
through the yards. But to be fair, the yards are
used as a benchmark for on-farm sales as well. or
private sale, as we call it. And so, yeah, the
sale yards has a big bearing on what's paid around
(05:58):
the place.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Shane, we look at the beef market. It's looking pretty
positive heading into spring.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, it is. You know, we've seen probably a big
increase from last year. You know, if you looked at, say,
bull and steer, you're probably looking at $ 1. 50, what we
were getting this last year, and cow a buck. But
what's probably just dampening things a wee bit, Andy, is
that the states, you know, they have just released 300,000
(06:25):
tonne of quota to South America, Argentina, or sorry, Brazil.
And so that's 100,000 tonnes they're going to export into
the US tariff-free each month. And hence, you know, that
has put a bit of pressure on our grinder beef,
that's our bull and cow beef. And we've seen shingles
(06:46):
come back in the last week, two weeks, by 20
or 30 cents a kilo. So that will have an impact. Now,
what we don't know is just how much impact that
will have going forward. But certainly, if you look at
the states, and probably what's the driver behind that is
that their beef herd is the lowest since the late 1940s.
(07:08):
And hence, that's why they have been very active in
the beef market. So They want to reduce that pricing,
so hence that's why South America has got that 300,000
tonne quota for the next three months.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Just finally, Shane, it's fair to say the positives are
outweighing the negatives as we head into springtime, especially down
here in the Deep South. Weather aside, I don't know,
how long can we see these highs stay up for
in the red meat industry?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Well, I'd like to, personally, I'd like to see it forever.
The boom and bust cycle, we just cannot work on,
whereas you see prices go up and then they come
down sharply. I still think, you know, if you look
at your sheep meats, the whole sheep meats, and I'm
talking world scene here, is the lowest we've ever seen.
So that supply and demand is working well, and that
(07:59):
will continue. It's a very good product, and New Zealand
is recognised of producing a very good product. So, I
think going forward I'd like to see that both beef
and sheep meats will stay up reasonably strong and hence
very positive that going forward we're going to see some
(08:23):
good results on pricing.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Good on you, Shane. Thanks for your time on the
muster this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Thanks, Andy. Great to speak to you. Cheers.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
South Island Livestock Manager for PGG Rights, and putting it
into perspective, that price around that $ 506 lamb, singular yesterday
at Longville, but hey, hell of a price, isn't it?
Some expensive little lamb chops going there. Up next from
Dairy NZ, Nicola Blair.
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