Producers are meeting a variation in quotes offered with non-quality assured lambs starting at €4.70/kg while quality assured and group lambs are selling in general from €4.80/kg to €4.90/kg.

The sheep trade has been largely steady this week with base quotes up to the middle of the week on a similar footing to last week. Base quotes for Thursday vary slightly with Kildare Chilling quoting a base of €4.75/kg while the two ICM plants have pulled their base quote by 10c/kg to €4.60/kg. Moyvalley are on an all-in quote of €4.80/kg with Ballon Meats also quoting €4.80/kg. Mart sales have been steady with some sales reporting a bit more bite and helped by strong demand for store lambs. Numbers of factory lambs available in some sales was also significantly reduced.

Kepak Athleague and Dawn Meats are still not quoting but farmers report being offered a base of €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg over the last week. This is reported to be creating a greater opportunity for agents purchasing lambs for plants in the east of the country to source lambs in the west.

Quality-assured lambs

Prices for quality-assured lambs range from €4.75/kg to €4.85/kg, with regular sellers and groups securing returns of €4.85/kg to €4.95/kg when bonus payments or subsidised transport are included. These higher prices will obviously now be affected by a dip in quotes. Factories point to higher supplies of British lamb in the market, with farmers looking to push out supplies before potential Brexit-related market pressure.

Prices in northern Ireland range this week from £3.70/kg to £3.75/kg, with similar prices in the UK.

The IFA’s Sean Dennehy said factories are actively looking for lambs this week. He said lamb numbers are expected to tighten next week and farmers should take full advantage of the strong market demand and tighter supplies when selling.

The IFA sheep chair said prices of €4.85 to €4.90/kg are available with up to €4.95/kg including producer group bonuses paid by some factories despite lower quotes. Cull ewes are making €2.80/kg to €3/kg.

Dennehy said there is strong demand for store lambs in all centres, which is underpinning the trade for factory lambs.

The positive this year is the cull ewe trade is holding up. Farmers going to marts are being rewarded.

At the moment, mart prices look to be more positive and all reports suggest this will hold into August. Whether factories get their way on pulling prices will depend on numbers coming on to the market.

Our reports this week suggest factory agents are active in marts to take the pressure off paying farmers direct at factories.

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