Factories have reduced lamb quotes for Thursday by an average of 30c/kg on last week’s level.

This leaves base quotes in the main export plants ranging from €5.30/kg to €5.40/kg, with lamb prices falling in value by about €10/head over the last 10 days. Prices are running about 10c/kg above the corresponding week in 2017, with the kill also on par.

Producers achieved returns of €5.70/kg to €5.80/kg earlier in the week, with top prices now lying between €5.50/kg and €5.60/kg.

Last week’s kill breakdown was the first week of returning close to the normal levels.

Throughput increased 723 head to 58,649 head, which is also on a par with the corresponding week in 2017. The lamb kill increased 2,790 head to 48,249, while hogget throughput reduced 2,369 head to 1,240.

Factories comment that supplies have increased further this week, with farmers drafting lambs to reduce feed demand. While numbers may be on the rise, the volume of lamb presented is not rising in line, with lambs drafted at a lower liveweight and achieving a declining kill-out.

This is reflected in a number of plants this week advising farmers to select lambs on a combination of weight and fat cover and to refrain from drafting lambs that are likely to kill poorly.

This is a view echoed by IFA national sheep chair Sean Dennehy: “Some farmers are reporting very poor kill-outs and all options should be considered including meal feeding to avoid selling under-finished lambs.”

Factories achieved the desired response of attracting ewes forward, with the ewe and ram kill rising 308 head to 9,156. Reports suggest this has eaten into supplies for this week, with numbers appearing in marts falling significantly.

Quotes range from €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg, but up to €3.25/kg to €3.40/kg has been paid at the higher end of the market.

Northern trade

Northern factories have reduced quotes by 20p/kg to 25p/kg, with quotes for Thursday ranging from £4.40/kg to £4.45/kg or the equivalent of €4.99/kg to €5.05/kg at 88p to the euro and €5.26/kg to €5.32/kg, VAT-inclusive at 5.4%. Regular sellers and producer groups are negotiating 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher.

The number of sheep coming south for direct slaughter is steady, with 7,029 northern-born sheep processed in southern plants last week.

British lamb prices have also reduced significantly, with the AHDB reporting last week’s prices falling by an average of 29p/kg, with R3 lambs averaging £4.95/kg (€5.91/kg).

Prices are under pressure again this week, but are still holding well above Irish and Northern Irish levels.

Read more

Sheepwatch: weather upsets store trade

Northern view: price pressure mounts as cattle supplies increase