Talk in the sheep trade has been dominated this week by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (CCPC) approval for Dawn Meats to purchase Kildare Chilling. The greatest fears raised by farmers is reduced competition and lower prices.

These concerns are borne not just by farmers trading directly with Kildare Chilling, but also by producer groups relying on Kildare Chilling’s base quote, which has trended significantly ahead of competing plants, for their lamb price calculation.

The fact that Dawn Meats and Kepak have also failed to provide regular official quotes in recent years is moving discussions on to now trying to ensure there is greater transparency in the sector.

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There are rightly increasing calls for similar price reporting to be put in place by the Department of Agriculture as to what is already in place for beef.

There has also been another hit to the trade this week, with the two Irish Country Meats plants in Camolin and Navan reducing base quotes below the €6/kg mark, following a drop of 10c/kg.

The plant cites pressure on prices in export markets as the reason for the reduction in base quotes to €5.90/kg plus its 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

This has opened up a wider differential in price, with Kildare Chilling quoting a base of €6.20/kg plus its 10c/kg quality assurance bonus and Ballon Meats quoting €6.30/kg all-in.

Other plants not quoting are reported as offering a base of €6.05/kg to €6.10/kg.

This leaves individual producers trading lambs from Thursday onwards operating from €6.10/kg to €6.30/kg for quality assured lambs.

Groups and regular sellers who had been securing top prices of €6.40/kg for R grading lambs and €6.50/kg for U grading lambs are now facing cuts of 6c/kg to 10c/kg.

Last week’s sheep kill fell marginally by about 1,200 head to 58,846. Lamb throughput reduced by 2,455 head, while ewe throughput increased by over 1,400 head to 10,140.

The kill has slipped further behind the corresponding week in 2022, with throughput 7,253 head or 11% lower.

The ewe trade is largely unchanged with prices in the main from €2.60/kg to €3.00/kg and a high of €3.30/kg in Ballon Meats for top-quality ewes.

Kildare Chilling has reduced its quote for ewes less than 23kg carcase weight to €2/kg.

NI trade

The trade in Northern Ireland is steady at a base of £5.15/kg or €5.94/kg at 87.6p to the euro.

Regular sellers and groups are commanding returns rising to £5.25/kg to £5.30/kg (€6.04/kg to €6.11/kg) at the top end of the market.

The number of sheep coming on to the market in Northern Ireland increased last week, with exports for direct slaughter rising by 1,000 head to 7,135, while the sheep kill increased by almost 300 head to its highest level this year of 11,902.