This has turned out to be a more challenging week for trading lambs, with quotes in all plants slipping back to a base of €6/kg.

This is a reduction of 20c/kg on last week’s levels in Kildare Chilling and 10c/kg in plants not officially quoting in the price table.

The reduction in quotes has reduced prices paid to producer groups working on a payment mechanism of an average of quotes plus a price top-up. Prices for lambs traded as the week has progressed range from €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg.

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There are still reports of regular sellers and those handling large numbers securing higher returns but the numbers involved are lower than in recent weeks. This is evident in mart sales where factory agents remain anxious for good-quality lambs. At the lower end of the market, producers trading individually with less negotiating power are trading from €6.10/kg to €6.15/kg.

Producers should continue to note cuts ranging anywhere from 60c/kg to upwards of €1/kg for lambs killing at fat class 1 or less than 16kg carcase weight and take care when drafting lambs.

Numbers coming on stream are steady, reflected in last week’s kill figure of 65,232 head. This is a slight reduction of about 900 head on the previous week while the kill is about 3,500 head higher than the corresponding week in 2021.

The reduction in last week’s throughput is driven primarily by ewe throughput reducing by about 700 head to 12,061. Ewe quotes range from €3.00/kg to €3.20/kg with a high percentage of ewes trading within a price range of €3.10/kg to €3.30/kg. Higher prices are being paid by processors working in the wholesale trade or filling niche orders.

Agents purchasing for these outlets remain active in mart sales and while prices are €30 to €50 back from the highs witnessed in August and early September, there is still a premium being paid in many marts for large-framed fleshed ewes.

The deadweight trade in Northern Ireland firmed at the end of last week with factories moving to improve their competitiveness with buyers purchasing lambs for exporting for direct slaughter in plants in Ireland.

Base quotes at the start of the week strengthened by 5p/kg to 10p/kg and remain in the region of £5/kg to £5.05/kg.

Sterling regained some lost ground and at Wednesday afternoon’s exchange rate of 87.5p to the euro this equates to €5.72/kg. Regular sellers and groups are securing 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher returns, with some plants offering lower prices trying to tempt sellers by raising the carcase weight limit from 21kg to 21.5kg.

Last week’s sheep kill of 12,992 head was the highest for the year to date and was boosted by a carryover of sheep from the previous week where processing was disrupted by Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

The number of sheep exported south for direct slaughter fell by 200 head to about 9,000 sheep.