Base quotes on offer in most plants for Thursday are in the region of €7.70/kg or €7.90/kg when the 20c/kg payment for quality assurance (QA) is included.

This follows Dawn Meats reducing its base quote by 10c/kg at the start of the week, matching the base quote in Irish Country Meats from the end of last week.

Producer groups and regular sellers are being paid a slightly higher price of €8/kg, which is also being paid by Ballon Meats.

There are small numbers moving above this price to groups with a higher payment mechanism or to select sellers, but, by and large, those handling smaller numbers are being curtailed at a top price of €7.90/kg to €8/kg.

Last week’s kill increased again by 1,830 head to reach 48,323. The increase is stemming solely from an increase in ewe throughput, with the lamb kill unchanged at 38,330 head. This is about 1,800 higher than the corresponding week in 2025, while the ewe and ram kill is running 3,418 higher.

As mentioned in previous weeks, the jump in ewe throughput is being driven by a change in the recording process in some abattoirs. There is also an increase seen in all plants and this continues to keep pressure on prices.

Plants are generally quoting in the region of €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg, while plants and abattoirs specialising in ewes are quoting upwards of €5/kg.

The best demand is for heavier ewes with plants cautioning farmers as to price deductions for ewes lacking flesh cover.

Dawn Kildare is encouraging producers to hold back such ewes at the moment and to feed these on until market prospects improve or ewes better suit desired specifications.

It warns that O2 or P1 ewes will be paid at €3.50/kg and that ewes lacking flesh cover and in poor general health may be subject to veterinary inspection and risk being condemned.

Speaking at last week’s IGA event, Kepak’s David Mannion said that there are hopes that lamb prices will steady in the next couple of weeks.

He highlighted challenges in the French market, including higher volumes of Spanish and French product putting pressure on the carcase trade.

This coincided with high temperatures, which also reduced demand. He said that there is better prospects in the market, with schools reopening generally boosting demand.

He added that supplies of Spanish lamb in the market had tightened and that there were similar forecasts for domestic French lamb supplies.

NI prices

Prices also appear to be firming in Britain and while base quotes are steady in Northern Ireland, there are reports of factories paying higher for larger batches.

ABP Linden continues to edge out Dunbia’s base quote and is offering 10p/kg higher for Thursday at £6.70/kg (€7.85/kg).

Last week’s sheep kill increased by about 300 head to 9,079 head.