New sheep producer group QualEUtex, working in tandem with Kepak Athleague, is offering producers a 30c to 35c/kg bonus on a base price agreed on a weekly basis for U and E grade Beltex and Texel lambs.

Group co-ordinator Donal Mee explains that strong interest levels have helped to get the group up and running quicker than initially envisaged, with expressions of interest also starting to gain momentum from early lamb producers.

“As you would expect, we have received the strongest level of interest from farmers in counties surrounding Kepak Athleague and the collection point in Hacketstown, Co Carlow,” according to Donal.

“There is also growing interest from further afield, which presents some logistical challenges in transporting lambs, but we have a strong committee with a good geographical spread. It may not suit in all cases, but for some it may mean a few farmers coming together to organise transport.”

Group workings

Verification that Beltex or Texel pedigree rams are being used will be required for admittance into the group.

This may be a pedigree certificate or a tag number of the ram that can be traced back and verified by the society or through the Sheep Ireland breed improvement programme. In certain cases, a brief inspection may take place.

The group is initially open to primary producers. Donal said: “The objective of the producer group is to reward for producing top-quality lambs. We want to ensure that the higher payments get through to primary producers who are getting up to lamb ewes and who are purchasing pedigree rams.

“This may be expanded depending on how successful the initiative is, but for now we are focusing on those breeding the lambs.”

A once-off charge of €50 applies to new members. A fee of 30c for each lamb processed will also be charged by the group, with funds collected used for the group’s running costs.

If lambs traded through the group kill out poorer than envisaged and grade R for conformation, for example, these will receive the negotiated base payment each week (€5.70/kg this week).

“The required specification for hoggets at present is a carcase weight between 16kg and 23kg. Spring lamb weight limits will reduce to 20kg, with weight brackets rising as the year progresses.

“Producers should not worry about lambs falling outside the specification. We are advising producers to only kill animals through the group that they feel will hit the grades.

“Other lambs can still be traded at the same time, but our advice is to put these animals on a separate dispatch docket to avoid the 30c/kg group charge.”

Final destination

Bertie Mannion, Kepak Athleague, explained: “The initiative has to deliver for all parties involved to work. We are supplying a Belgian customer with the top-quality produce they want and are happy to be in a position to return a premium price to producers.

“The initiative is bedding in quickly and we are delighted that it is also contributing to better breeding decisions at farm level.”

The producer group committee comprises TJ Gormley (chair), Lorraine Brennan (secretary), Catherine McDonnell (treasurer) and Donal Mee (co-ordinator).

Those interested in joining the group, contact Donal on 086-225 4932 weekdays from 6pm to 8pm or at qualeutex@gmail.com. Regular price updates are also on Facebook.