Market segment	Carcase weight (kg)	Preferred fat scores	Comment
Supermarket lamb	18 to 22	2 and 3	Second cross preferred
Food service lamb	20 to 25	2 and 3	Lean and high yielding preferred
Other domestic lamb	Variable weights	2 to 4	Range of lamb types depending on end user requirements

Source: MLA

Export lamb

Market segment	Carcase weight (kg)	Preferred fat score	Comment
Heavy export	20 to 30	2 to 4	North America for prime cuts. Large volume markets for lower value cuts
Light export	10 to 16	2	Mainly Middle Eastern markets
‘Haj’ market	35 to 41 liveweight		Market is for lambs (6-12 months). Entire male animals with ‘long’ tail intact are preferred

Source: MLA

Domestic hogget and mutton

Market segment	Comment
Domestic manufacturing	17 to 21 kg carcase weight, fat score 1 to 3, for manufactured meat products
Domestic retail	Hogget sold through meat retailers
Domestic food service	Cuts used in Asian and Middle Eastern style restaurants

Source: MLA Making the most of mutton

Export hogget and mutton

Market segment	Carcase weight (kg)	Preferred fat scores	Comment
Heavy export	More than 20	2 to 4	Heavy carcase weights preferred
Light export	14 to 16	1 to 2	Lightweight, lean carcases
Live sheep	N/A	N/A	Wethers more than 50 kg liveweight

Source: MLA Making the most of mutton

< Previous

Tool 3.1 Lamb growth planner

Next >

Tool 3.3 Fat scoring lambs and sheep

Australian Wool Innovation Meat & Livestock Australia AWI Privacy Policy MLA Privacy Policy

Sitemap

MMFS Manual

Module 1 Plan for Success Module 2 Market Focused Wool Production Module 3 Market focused lamb and sheepmeat production Module 4 Capable and Confident People Module 5 Protect Your Farm’s Natural Assets Module 6 Healthy Soils Module 7 Grow More Pasture Module 8 Turn Pasture into Product Module 9 Boost Business with Breeding Module 10 Wean More Lambs Module 11 Healthy and Contented Sheep Module 12 Efficient Pastoral Production

Tool 3.2 Potential markets and specifications for sheepmeat