Lamb prices look to be rising in the run up to Easter. As demand for lamb grows, it is hoped that the deadweight price will go above £4.00/kilo for R-grade lambs next week with live trade also continuing to rise over £1.85/kilo. This is the first significant lift on prices offered the start of 2017. Live weight prices are still back year-on-year, but we are now only a few pence behind the 2016 trade.

The rising market will be critical for lamb finishers’ confidence for buying 2017-born lambs. This season many lamb finishers have been buying lambs that are £8 more expensive and selling them for £10 less. If profitability increases over the next month it will help store lamb buyers return to the market with confidence in the back end. Brexit and a likely second Scottish independence referendum are causing uncertainty in the sheep sector so a strong Easter trade would be a timely boost for the industry.

New Zealand supplies have tightened and correspondingly lamb prices have risen. Markets are up 15% in New Zealand, but when you consider the currency change their lamb is 30% more expensive. As a result January imports were down 30% and the price was 17.5% higher.

As expected, there has been a fall in lighter lambs coming to the market with more lambs sold between 45-52kg liveweight and further increase in sales of lambs over 52kg. So far in March around 65% of auction sales have been in the SQQ range, down from 71% last year.