Hair Lambs Sell at Discount to Wool Lambs

Texas A&M University compared the prices of wool lambs, primarily Rambouillet, with the prices of hair lambs, primarily Dorper, sold at Producers Livestock Auction Company in San Angelo Texas, the largest live sheep market in the US. The data set included 286,764 lambs sold in 25,916 lots from 2010 to 2014.

The results indicated an overall discount of $3.42 ± $0.33 per hundredweight (cwt) for hair lambs. The largest discount was in 2011 ($30.74 ± $0.41 per cwt). The discount relative to wool lambs increased as lamb weight increased.

In 2012, the price for hair lambs was $9.62 ± $0.62 per cwt higher for hair lambs. Hair lambs sold for $3.18 ± $0.83 per cwt more than wool lambs in the 40-50 lb. weight class, whereas wool lambs sold for $9.09 ± $0.68 per cwt more than hair lambs in the 90-100 lb. weight class.

Prices increased as lot size increased. Wool lambs sold for a larger premium in the larger lot sizes. Wool lambs sold for $8.59 ± $0.39 per cwt more than hair lambs when there were 35 or more lambs in the lot.The difference in price between hair lambs and wool lambs varied across years, months, weight class, and lot size.

Source:  Sheep & Goat Research Journal.  Read full article.