On Wednesday morning at the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange (CTLX) near Carcoar, Kevin Miller, Whitty, Lennon and Co agent Sam Clarke said he saw some lambs sell for anywhere between $8 to $10 per kilogram. 

“Back five, six years ago, if you got $6 a kilogram or a little below that for lamb, you would be getting a really good sale,” he said.

“With how the market is at the moment, it’s a really good time to be in the industry, to see the good prices and clients being rewarded for their hard work.”

Agents agree that the great prices for lambs is simply through demand, from processors and foreign exports.

Landmark agent Marcus Schembri said the best pens for kill-able lambs sold for $255 a pen on Wednesday. 

“Prices for kill-able lambs are continuing to be strong,” he said.

“Good trade weight lambs were making $160 to $190. 

“The lamb market is as strong as it’s ever been. We’ve never seen it this strong. It’s purely on buyer demand.” 

However, the restocking market is performing poorly due to a lack of grazing-able paddocks according to McCarron Cullinane agent Nick Doulman.

“The restocking market is just not there,” he said.

“There's no one getting enough hay and no one wants to buy feed. And we don't know when we're getting out of this drought.” 

On Wednesday, yarding was down at CTLX by 1890 from the previous week on August 15, with 2760 lambs sold and 1150 sheep sold.

CTLX is operated by Regional Infrastructure on behalf of Palisade Investment Partners and, according to its website, provides the Central Tablelands with a “state-of-the-art livestock auction facility that promises a competitive market for buyers and sellers”.

It has the capacity to hold 26,000 sheep and 3,900 cattle undercover.

Prime lamb and sheep sales are conducted at the site every Wednesday at 9am, while cattle sales are held on Tuesdays at 8.30am.

Store cattle sales are on the second Friday of the month at 10am.