The best sheep farms achieve a gross margin of €1,329/ha while the worst can only achieve €268/ha.

The Teagasc Athenry National Sheep open day yesterday (Wednesday) showed that direct costs/ha are similar for both the top and bottom third of sheep farmers.

The main difference comes in stocking rates and lambs reared per ewe.

The top third of farms sell on average 16 lambs/ha while the bottom third sell eight lambs/ha.

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Ewe prolificacy

There was a wide range of demonstrations and stands at the biennial Teagasc open day focusing on ewe prolificacy and grass volumes.

Factories have pulled their base lamb price quotes by 50c/kg to 60c/kg, down to €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg.

While the €6/kg base price was well ahead of recent years, the factories’ attempt to pull that price well back has met strong farmer resistance.

Mart also prices came under increasing pressure on Wednesday.

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Factories attempt to regain control

Lamb prices variable