As a result, prices for these lambs were well below budget - at between $30- $65/head.

But there was keen competition for the short supply of high quality sucker lambs, with the top priced pen reaching $134/head.

Another fickle season emerging across south-eastern Australia has the lamb industry again edgy about future supplies.

Already one month into the new lamb selling season and the perennial question over supply, and indeed the variable quality of lambs coming forward for sale, has been raised.

This follows the heavy culling of breeders last autumn, when preference for cropping over livestock was made in most mixed farming districts.

Evidence of this year’s dilemma became clearer Monday at the Bendigo, saleyards when the old lamb supply tumbled to less than half of the 13,000-strong yarding.

While lower old lamb numbers are expected at this time of the year, this week unmasked the new mounting season’s supply concerns.

* Extract from Bendigo sale report in Stock & Land, Vic, August 21