In the last few days, sheep factories have been taking their foot off the pedal buying hoggets.

Most factory agents have had a reduced appetite for hoggets as we head into the final days before the long Easter weekend.

With factories either closed or on half days for Good Friday followed by more disruption to normal business on the bank holiday Monday, the demand for hoggets will be reduced.

This reduced demand for numbers saw prices coming under a little pressure.

Farmers continue to secure prices of €5.60/kg to €5.70/kg for hoggets, but higher prices of €5.80/kg are less frequent.

However, the hope is that this will only be a very short blip in demand, as factories gear up for Ramadan.

It is just two weeks away, starting on 5 May, and running for the whole month of May.

Last week saw the largest kill we have seen so far in 2019 with 43,733 head of hoggets slaughtered.

High prices finally tempted a lot of farmers to market their hoggets, but factory agents commented that weights are a huge problem, with some explaining that 50% of their hoggets are killing out over 25kg.

This, they say, is problematic for their customers on the other end of the production line.

In terms of hogget quotes of the main export plants, Kepak leads the way with its quote of €5.20/kg (+15c QA).

Kildare Chilling failed to quote for hoggets this week and Irish Country Meats reduced its quote to a base of €5/kg (+10c QA).

In the North, hoggets are making £4.50/kg to £4.60/kg (equivalent of €5.44/kg to €5.56/kg including VAT).

Lamb prices

Spring lamb numbers are rising steadily now too. There were just over 6,500 lambs killed last week. Numbers were up over 5,000 head on the week previous, but the fact Easter buying was in the mix will likely have skewed the figures somewhat, causing the dramatic lift in the kill.

Most farmers are securing €6.50/kg for spring lambs now, with some negotiating up to €6.60/kg.

Quotes for spring lambs are quite variable. Moyvalley is leading the quote table with its all-in price of €6.50/kg. Kildare Chilling is offering similar money for Bord Bia quality assured (QA) spring lambs at €6.50/kg (including QA bonus).

Kepak has reduced its quote for lambs this week by 10c/kg to a base of €6.20/kg (+15c QA).

As with the hogget quote, Irish Country Meats has also cut its lamb quote by 30c/kg to a base of €6.00/kg (+ 10c QA).

Cull ewes

Quotes for cull ewes range from €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg, with prices paid frequently in excess of €3/kg.

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Sheep Watch: numbers bigger but prices back