West Qld sheep producers sitting tight, riding out price drop

In a drastic flock reduction measure in the wake of the collapse of the wool reserve price scheme, wool producers were paid to shoot their sheep, something Wyandra's Renton Bredhauer remembers.

"I think we saw it a lot worse, back then - we were selling our sheep for $2 and $3 a head in 1993," he said. "My mutton sheep go straight to Dubbo - I take the market price, and I'd hope a Dorper ewe dressing out at 24kg might be worth $24."

Last week's price for the strong to prime condition Merino ewes at Winton wasn't stopping Mr Bredhauer from reconsidering the planned joining of his Dorper flock, part of a cycle of three lambings in two years.

He and wife Anne have 1070 lambs in a feedlot in Victoria and say they'll probably send another 1000 head down in November, where they'll be on feed for six weeks, hopefully putting on 350 grams a day.

"I hope I'll get $5 a kilogram for them, but you don't know," Mr Bredhauer said. "We can't fatten in this environment at the moment so that's how we manage it."

His father Kevin Bredhauer, who also owns country at Wyandra, wasn't too concerned about the steep price drop, saying it looked like it was a case of stock with nowhere to go.

"It looks like a logjam down the pipeline," he said. "Supply chain logistics aren't capable, because of the labour shortage. One thing's for certain, the heady days of $7 a kilogram are but a memory."

Charleville Nutrien's Marc McKellar was hopeful numbers hitting the market would be drying up soon.

"It all just happened so fast, it took everyone by surprise," he said. "Old ewes six months ago were $100 going to works."

Mr McKellar said there was no restocker interest boosting the market, because country was too dry.

"A big lot of lambs are hitting the ground too," he said. "I think people just sit tight and bite the bullet."

Other Wyandra producers, Cam and Jeannie Baker are mostly running goats at the moment , but say they've seen similar sheep price drops before.

"It goes in circles; it's like bellbottoms - they were in fashion years ago, and it's coming round again," Mr Baker said. "You've just got to hang in there."

As well as speculating that the number of ex-live export sheep from Western Australia coming into South Australia could be impacting the price, Mr Baker said a "clap of thunder" would help the situation immensely.

Far from being scared off from the industry, Adavale goat and cattle producer Lindsay Clover says he's thinking of running sheep again, for the diversity they offer.

"It won't cost me anything to shear them - I shore for 15 years," he said. "I'm not worried about the market - you still get your money back growing wool."