There is a consensus being reported from factory agents and mart managers that supplies of finished lambs are tighter.

It is not clear if this is being influenced by farmers completing field work and delaying drafting of lambs, with many industry commentators and farmers believing numbers of finished lambs will remain tight in the months ahead.

Reports also indicate that lambs have been drafted at lighter weights in recent weeks, which is reducing the volume of meat processed.

This appears to be helping to steady the trade, with no movement since the start of the week.

Dawn Kildare reduced its base quote by 20c/kg since last week and joins the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants on €8.80/kg plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

This leaves opening prices for QA lambs at €9/kg, with groups and regular sellers being paid €9.10/kg on average.

Those with greater negotiating power and groups with a higher payment structure are securing a return of €9.20/kg.

Kill figure

Last week’s sheep kill of 38,118 head was marginally up on the previous week and continues to trend over 1,000 head lower than the corresponding week in 2025.

The lamb kill was 31,395 head, while the hogget kill still remains significant for the time of the year at 1,705 head.

The two ICM plants are the only plants quoting for hoggets at a base of €7.80/kg plus 20c/kg QA payment. Upwards of €8/kg is being paid for hoggets delivered to the required specification and in particular not at excessive weights.

Meanwhile, the ewe and ram kill settled at just over 5,000 head.

Demand remains strong, with prices starting at €5/kg in plants focused on lambs.

Sellers with numbers are securing 20c/kg to 30c/kg higher, while abattoirs specialising in the ewe trade are paying €5.50/kg-plus, with reports of €5.60/kg to €5.70/kg paid for top-quality ewes.

Northern Ireland

There is a big gap in quotes in Northern Ireland of 25p/kg (30c/kg).

Dunbia has maintained its base price at £7.50/kg, which, at Wednesday afternoon’s exchange rate of 85.4p to the euro, equates to €8.79/kg. The corresponding Irish base quotes excluding VAT is around €8.60/kg.

However, ABP has reduced its base quote for Thursday by 25p/kg to £7.25/kg (€8.49/kg).

Agents purchasing on behalf of southern plants have been more active in the last week and this is reflected in the number of sheep exported to Ireland for direct slaughter increasing by over 500 head to 1,651.

The number of sheep exported to Britain for direct slaughter also increased by about 160 head and remains high at 3,407 head.

This figure excludes sheep being exported under a production and breeding certificate with such figures reported on a monthly rather than weekly basis.