Despite a sluggish start to the year, lamb slaughter has managed to catch up with new data revealing the March quarter on par with 2021 results.
In fact, March 2022 slaughter rates hit the second highest level on record.
This is according to the quarterly Livestock Products data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last week.
However, the ABS data revealed a few surprises, which according to industry analysts may have implications for lamb supply over the coming months.
Australia produced 124,600 tonnes more lamb meat compared to the first quarter in 2021.
Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said the increase in lamb production was also achieved on the back of higher carcase weights.
"Lamb slaughter increased 11,800 head or 0.2 per cent to 4.97 million head, while lamb production in quarter one 2022 rose 4pc on the December quarter," MLA's manager of market information Stephen Bignell said.
"The increase in lamb production in the first quarter of 2022 reiterates MLA's projections that Australian lamb production will rise in 2022.
"Despite the impacts of Covid-19 on processor capacity and supply chains this quarter, the rates of lamb slaughter increased, with NSW, Victoria and Queensland all experiencing year-on-year increases in lamb production."
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But Mecardo analyst Angus Brown said with MLA forecasting an increase in slaughter this year, rates will have to step up to meet the 21.6 million target.
March lamb slaughter was 8.3pc below the pre-Covid level quarter in 2020.
"For the last three quarters lamb slaughter will have to be 5pc higher than last year," Mr Brown said.
"This means it will have to either meet or outstrip the five-year average."
He said lamb slaughter over the last 12 months remained low compared to the last 10 years, but this was to be expected during a flock rebuild.
And he said changes in slaughter varied across the states.
"NSW killed 7pc more lambs than last March and unexpectedly up 8pc on March 2020," Mr Brown said.
"Victorian slaughter was up 1.8pc on March 2021, but down 16pc on March 2020."
South Australia showed the biggest decline with 15.4pc fewer lambs slaughtered than last March.
According to the data average lamb slaughter weights were 25.3 kilograms per head on the east coast, the second highest level on record since June 2021.
Lambs slaughtered in SA were the heaviest weighing in at 26.6kg, overtaking NSW as the nation's biggest lambs.
But it was Victoria who gained the most lifting 0.9kg on last March to hit 25kg.
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