Breeding sales have been challenging to date, with prices running anywhere from €15 to €25 behind 2017 levels while clearance rates are also lower. Mart managers report sales being hampered by the difficult year, with higher costs this spring denting farmer appetite and also leading to reports of some producers cutting back numbers or switching entirely or partly from lambing to a dry hogget or store lamb system.

Drafting rates are also running well behind target on many farms and mart managers explain this is limiting the spending potential of some customers. In some of these cases they expect demand to firm in the coming weeks as spending power improves on the back of lamb drafting rates improving and direct payments commencing. Another element which they say would help to insert some confidence is stability in the factory lamb trade, with primary producers directly hit by current price negativity.