The sheep trade is starting the week on a much more positive note. Factory agents have struggled to get in to numbers of lambs over the weekend and with demand holding robustly they have increased quotes by 10c/kg in general and as high as 20c/kg in other cases.

Kildare Chilling continues to set the pace and its 10c/kg increase for Monday’s kill leaves the base price at €6.10/kg plus 10c/kg quality assurance bonus.

Some of the other plants are quoting €5.90/kg and in cases have increased the base quote for groups to €6.00/kg in a bid to attract higher numbers forward.

Low numbers

Producers handling low numbers of lambs are trading from a starting point of €6/kg, with sellers with higher numbers trading individually securing returns of €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg.

At the higher end of the market regular sellers or those trading through groups are securing €6.30/kg, with top prices including conformation bonuses or deals involving allowances on carcase weights rising to €6.40/kg for U grade lambs.

Ewes

The ewe trade is also solid with the live trade continuing to feed plenty of life in to the dead trade. Factories are being forced to pay €3.40/kg to €3.50/kg to entice farmers to kill ewes as opposed to showing them in the mart while at the top of the market sellers with higher numbers are securing 10c/kg to 15c/kg higher.