AS the saying goes 'one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity' - and such has been a godsend for WA abattoirs and sheep farmers.
High rainfall and a late lambing season in parts of the Eastern States, meant a lifeline - in the form of kill space - could be thrown across the SA-WA border.
Local red meat processors grabbed the lifeline with both hands, as they grappled with a major backlog of old and new season lambs amid ongoing labour shortages and supply chain issues.
It was labelled a "once in a decade opportunity" by Thomas Foods International (TFI) national smallstock manager Paul Leonard.
And while this may be the case, it could not have come at a better time for WA farmers, particularly with harvest looming.
Mr Leonard was approached by WA stock agents about five weeks ago, and the SA-based meat processor giant has been buying 10,000 lambs a week since.
It was a win-win for both parties, given the late lambing season in both SA and Victoria, and the oversupply in WA.
"We got off to a cracking start, it rained well in May through to August, but unfortunately it did not stop," Mr Leonard said.
"It remained cold and overcast, which meant a lot of the lambs have run to wool a bit and haven't performed as well as they probably should have.
"This means everything is two months late."
In timing with the delay, a significant supply of lambs are expected to flood the SA sheep market in about two weeks' time.
Just seven days is all it would take for yardings to jump from one extreme to another and for WA's processing window to close.
As kills are down in SA and Victoria, Mr Leonard said there was a large number of lambs, which in a normal year would have been slaughtered, but hadn't.
Those lambs would still be put on the market.
"I expect there would be a significant run of shorn lambs from mid-February through to August next year, as well as new season wool lambs between now and the end of January," he said.
"It would be sort of like a backup because they haven't come onto the market as early as the usually would have.
"Lambs we have been buying from the west have taken the place of those we would have processed earlier, so it has worked out well."
TFI has sent lambs to the Lobethal processing plant, near Adelaide, which is in the the closest export abattoir to WA.
Mr Leonard said this was positive from an animal welfare trucking perspective, as lambs could be brought straight through, rehydrated for 24 hours and put on feed and electrolytes.
He said the lambs had travelled and killed out 'very well', weighing in at 26 kilograms.
"They are much heavier than our lambs would be for that six-month age mark and they've all been top quality," Mr Leonard said.
"I'm assuming that is off the back of what has been an outstanding season in WA."
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A hole in the Eastern States' processing market, meant WA Meat Market Co-operative (WAMMCO) could take advantage of its Southern Meats abattoir in Goulburn, NSW.
The co-operative have been sending about 3000 lambs across the border, via five trucks, each week.
WAMMCO livestock manager Mike Curnick said they aimed to process somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 head before the market turned which exceeded the initial expectation.
Mr Curnick said the Eastern States' misfortune had certainly favoured WA which was working through the large backlog of lambs.
"The east had a few issues with supply once they reopened due to the wet weather," Mr Curnick said.
"Then as it got wetter and wetter, accessing lambs they had brought or were going to buy became the issue.
"This created that window of opportunity for us."
A large number of heavy, mature lambs had filled WAMMCO's wait list, and similarly to Mr Leonard, Mr Curnick said they had travelled and processed "really well".
Such lambs were sourced from areas including the eastern Wheatbelt and Lakes area, where they had been weaned for some time.
"We were able to move their sheep at similar rates or the same rates as if they were sold here," Mr Curnick said.
"WA growers have been happy to take the offer we have presented to them.
"We will keep going until the window closes in about two to three weeks' time."
Mr Curnick said, "even though it is costing us more in freight, we have been careful to make sure the sheep have plenty of room and are given hay before they leave to fill their stomachs".
"As part of the journey, lambs are dropped off at Nundroo, South Australia, where they are fed hay and water before being transferred via truck to Goulburn."
Elders State livestock and wool manager Dean Hubbard said, as anticipated, demand for WA lambs had ramped up over the past six to eight weeks.
Mr Hubbard hoped by December-January, WA would be back on an even footing, after a challenging time in the red meat processing sector.
However, he said it was unfortunate the tide had turned due to the Eastern States experiencing unfavourable rainfall, which had heavily impacted crops and the condition of livestock.
"We are nearly there - at the moment our sheep sales have experienced more positivity than a couple of months ago," Mr Hubbard said.
"Last month's east-west sheep and lamb figures would be the highest we have seen since November previous.
"Plus our local grazing sales have seen some significant demand out of the east for quality young ewes - it is a return."
Last year, WA struggled with demand from the Eastern States due to a "million-head sheep hole" compared to previous years.
However, Mr Hubbard said appetite had grown in local, interstate and international sheep markets.
"Locally, people want to put an extra paddock or two in to run sheep," he said.
"This is due to high and concerning input costs for cropping, where they would be put into the marginal - it is certainly a trend."
Mr Hubbard said a somewhat "anti-sheep sentiment" had hit the industry in early spring, due to processing issues and concerns around foot and mouth disease.
Such a sentiment has been quashed, as the return of Eastern States' demand has allowed people to move their sale stock more freely in their own time.
Recent weeks, more heavier weight lamb orders have been floating around, set for Victoria, NSW and SA.
Prior to that, Mr Hubbard knew of a SA abattoir that was buying a large number of WA feeder lambs.
"The fact is, our processors have been under the pump, albeit the processing numbers tell us year-on-year they are pretty similar," he said.
"It is certainly that downturn in live export and east-west that caused the glut, but I think it has nearly righted itself now."
Mr Hubbard said the return of live export had also alleviated some of the pressures, with three vessels operating in the medium term compared to possibly just one last year.
He said a price correction on some sheep had made it more attractive for the Middle East and importers to take stock.
"All of a sudden that market has opened up again," Mr Hubbard said.
"Basically, every ship that leaves Fremantle wharf is the equivalent to one week of processing in WA.
"If we are 12 to 16 weeks behind in processing, guess what - that's three ships a month and it doesn't take too long to get back under control.
"There has been more of a robust return to live export given the soccer World Cup in Qatar, which has certainly increased demand."
Nutrien Ag Solutions stud and commercial sheep manager Tom Bowen also agreed that the situation was "cruel fate" for the Eastern States, but a godsend for WA livestock producers.
Over the past two months, he said sheep had been sent over east in "dribs and drabs", however this had intensified in six weeks.
"(Abattoirs) must supplement their kill because they can't get them out of the paddock - that is what I can read between the lines," Mr Bowen said.
"They have to keep the kill going to supply the contracted markets.
"It is a blessing that we can get rid of lambs and it has been good to get some of that stock moving."
