Good grass, heavy lambs

Lamb hit record prices this winter, and when the new processing season opened in October, farmers were getting around $12.20 a kilo at the farm gate. If your Sunday roast has felt dearer, that's why. The reasons start in the paddock and finish on the other side of the world, and because we buy direct from farms every week, we hear about them first-hand.

_{THE WORLD WANTS OUR LAMB}

American buyers in particular can't get enough of it. Racks are fetching around US$13 a pound over there, and with a US ruling on lamb imports due in November, some buyers are ordering early to get ahead of any changes.

A low Kiwi dollar helps as well. Every US dollar buys more of our meat, which keeps export returns high for the farmers who depend on those markets.

_{THERE ARE FEWER LAMBS TO GO ROUND}

Even with all that demand, there simply aren't many more lambs than there used to be. The national lamb crop has barely moved in years, and a wet start to 2026 slowed the flow of stock to processors. Just days into the new season, one South Canterbury plant paused both its processing chains for lack of animals, and it isn't expected to start up again until November.

_{AND THE GRASS IS VERY, VERY GOOD}

Here's the part that doesn't make the headlines much. After a few tough seasons, this spring has brought a lot of good grass, so there's no rush to send stock away. Many of the farmers we work with are holding on to their lambs and letting them grow. One that might have gone at 35kg goes at 40kg instead.

It's smart farming: more meat from the same animal, all of it raised on grass. Processors waiting on stock see quiet weeks, though, and the rest of us see less lamb on the market for now.

_{WHAT COMES NEXT}

Prices should ease a little towards Christmas as more spring lambs come through, according to the analysts, though not back to where they sat a few years ago.

Is that a bad thing? Not for the people raising it. Strong prices keep good farms in business, and we'd rather celebrate that than grumble about it. What we do reckon is that more of New Zealand's best meat deserves a spot on Kiwi tables, which is why our Choice Cuts come straight from small, family-owned farms, raised on grass and packed for homes here.

Out in the paddocks right now, there are mobs of lambs in no hurry at all, working their way through the best grass in years.

New around here? Get a meat box by Wonky.