Farmers are still coming to terms with a collapse in the lamb trade in the last 10 days. Quotes in the main export plants fell to €5.60/kg this day last week (Thursday) and suffered another hit of 15c/kg to 20c/kg at the start of the week, with most plants quoting €5.40/kg.

When combined, it represents a fall in the region of €10 to €12 per lamb on a 20.5kg carcase. The reduction has also been felt in the mart trade where prices have fallen by a similar level.

Prices paid on Tuesday and Wednesday ranged in the main from €5.45/kg to €5.50/kg, with some producer groups and larger-scale suppliers securing €5.60/kg by means of producer bonuses.

The news on the trade for today (Thursday) is also negative, with plants quoting a further 15c/kg to 20c/kg drop, to a base of €5.20/kg to €5.25/kg excluding quality assurance (QA) or quality payments. While the quotes have fallen, there are still lambs moving today at a price range of €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg that were purchased the previous day.

Plants are also adding another layer of uncertainty to the trade, with producers feeling exposed where booking in of lambs is being delayed by anything up to a week in some cases.

Plants are blaming poor export demand and availability of alternative cheaper sheepmeat in export markets as the main contributor to the price drop. They also point to an increase in weekly throughput (up over 1,000 head to 45,054 for last week), which is not surprising, with some producers drafting down to lower rates to try to weaken the impact of the fall in prices.

Declan Fennell from the meat and livestock division in Bord Bia said that the trade in France should pick up in the next number of weeks.

“Over the month of May, there was a number of bank holidays that disrupted the trade. That, combined with poor weather for the time of year, reduced the amount of lamb that would normally be bought by French consumers for barbecues,” he explained.

He believes the current downward pressure on prices is due to an influx of Spanish lamb entering France.

“Usually, Spanish lamb hits the French market earlier in the season and the majority is used up by now. Surprisingly, this is not the case this year and even though a lot of Spanish lamb was exported live already, there are still big numbers coming out.”

Bord Bia lamb promotions will kick in on the home market from early June and together with Ramadan on 18 June should help drive demand.

Cull ewes: The ewe trade remains strong, with reports of farmers securing €3.20 for slaughter-fit ewes. Factory quotes remain low at €2.90 to €3.00, but higher prices are being paid.