Sales of breeding sheep and store lambs got underway this week across several marts in NI. Trade is buoyant, with plenty of buyers looking for store lambs to utilise strong grass supplies on farms.
In Ballymena mart, there were 1,700 sheep offered for sale. Breeding hoggets seen a solid trade, with prices ranging from £120 to a top price of price of £148 paid for a pen of 10 Suffolk animals.
Store lamb prices peaked at £77 for a pen of well-fleshed Dorsets. General prices saw forward lambs selling from £65 to £68 with lighter animals selling from £58 to £64.
In Armoy, heavy lambs sold from £61 to £65 for Suffolk and Texel animals. Lighter sheep sold from £55 to £58.
Sales at Plumbridge and Gortin got off to a strong start, with prices of £60 to £64 for good quality lambs.
Finished prices
The finished lamb trade has come under further pressure this week with processors slashing quotes to 395p/kg, down 15p/kg on last week, wiping another £3 off the value of fat lambs. Lamb prices are down by £10 per head in the past month.
Base prices now make a 21kg lamb worth £83 and with increasing numbers of sheep moving through marts and weekly kill numbers rising, some buying agents indicate further price cuts ahead.
Despite Sterling continuing to trade at €1=89p, sources in the meat trade maintain that sales of lamb are slow with reduced buying demand in key export markets within the EU.
Read more
Sales calendar: sheep breeding and sales season
Store lambs in demand at Carndonagh Mart
Sales of breeding sheep and store lambs got underway this week across several marts in NI. Trade is buoyant, with plenty of buyers looking for store lambs to utilise strong grass supplies on farms.
In Ballymena mart, there were 1,700 sheep offered for sale. Breeding hoggets seen a solid trade, with prices ranging from £120 to a top price of price of £148 paid for a pen of 10 Suffolk animals.
Store lamb prices peaked at £77 for a pen of well-fleshed Dorsets. General prices saw forward lambs selling from £65 to £68 with lighter animals selling from £58 to £64.
In Armoy, heavy lambs sold from £61 to £65 for Suffolk and Texel animals. Lighter sheep sold from £55 to £58.
Sales at Plumbridge and Gortin got off to a strong start, with prices of £60 to £64 for good quality lambs.
Finished prices
The finished lamb trade has come under further pressure this week with processors slashing quotes to 395p/kg, down 15p/kg on last week, wiping another £3 off the value of fat lambs. Lamb prices are down by £10 per head in the past month.
Base prices now make a 21kg lamb worth £83 and with increasing numbers of sheep moving through marts and weekly kill numbers rising, some buying agents indicate further price cuts ahead.
Despite Sterling continuing to trade at €1=89p, sources in the meat trade maintain that sales of lamb are slow with reduced buying demand in key export markets within the EU.
Read more
Sales calendar: sheep breeding and sales season
Store lambs in demand at Carndonagh Mart
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