Australia's sheep population continues to grow

The results of the latest MLA/AWI survey showed that 31% of producers want to increase the number of herds, 60% intend to maintain the number of herds, and 7% are going to reduce the number of herds.

The latest survey results showed that out of a total of 42,351,464 breeding sheep available, 74% are merino or wool and 26% are non-merino. The number of breeding sheep has increased by 1.1 million heads, as the herd continues to grow.

Meanwhile, the available data on lambs can also provide insight into producers' intentions for the coming year. The survey showed that out of 19,487,990 lambs available, 56% are purebred Merino and 44% are non-Merino. This year there were 1.1 million HEAD of breeding sheep more, which is 3% more than last year. This indicates that the activity in the lamb market will be increased in the rest of the year.

Many non-merino-dominated farms are found in Victoria and southern New South Wales. Merino farms are located in northern New South Wales, Queensland. In New South Wales, total breeding ewes increased by 8% to 17.6 million, but there are 15,300 fewer lambs available. This is the largest increase in breeding sheep in the country compared to last year.