Producers lucky enough to have hoggets to trade are receiving record prices as hogget factory prices surpassed €7/kg in recent days.

Factory attempts to curtail prices at €7/kg were shortlived, with specialist finishers and agents handling large numbers quickly breaching this level.

The trade is being driven by strong demand and tight supplies. This is evident in last week’s sheep kill.

Prices increased by 20c/kg to 30c/kg, yet throughput fell by 2,899 head to 43,460. It is expected that throughput could be even lower this week despite another increase of 20c/kg to 30c/kg.

At a price of €7/kg hoggets delivering a 23kg carcase are trading at a price of €161 per head.

This is an increase of €1/kg on the corresponding week in 2020 with prices in marts running anywhere from €20 to €26 above the corresponding period in 2020.

Reports indicate that the record prices are now starting to attract ewe hoggets on to the market that had been earmarked for trading in autumn breeding sales.

It is a similar case in Northern Ireland, with top prices exceeding £6/kg or the equivalent of €7/kg. A number of marts have reported record prices of £140, or €161 per head this week.