Sheep quotes for Thursday have, by and large, steadied after last week’s reduction.

Factories moved at the end of last week to take more control of the trade, with quotes reduced by 20c/kg.

This left base quotes ranging from €7.35/kg at the lower end of the market to a top of €7.50/kg in Kildare Chilling.

Producers trading quality assured (QA) lamb were offered starting prices of €7.50/kg to €7.60/kg, depending on where they were selling.

Farmers trading through groups or with stronger negotiating power secured returns of €7.70/kg to €7.80/kg. Prices have held steady since the start of the week, with supplies balanced with demand.

Throughput for last week was recorded at 46,928 head and while this is an increase of about 4,000 on the week previous, it is over 9,000 lower than the corresponding week in 2020.

On the subject of 2020, trade prices are running in the region of €1.60/kg to €1.70/kg above the corresponding period or €33 on a 20kg carcase.

IFA sheep chair Sean Dennehy said: “Conditions are strong as food service sector demand increases for the summer months.

“Lambs are making €7.60/kg to €7.80/kg, with higher deals for groups and larger lots.

“There will not be a flush of lambs available to factories and farmers should resist the lower quoted prices and sell hard while moving lambs as they become fit.”

The latter point has cropped up as an issue over the last week, with some farmers anxious about the trade drafting light and under-fleshed lambs.

This practice will only serve to compound issues and lambs should be marketed as they become fit to maximise returns for farmers.

Base quotes for hoggets in all plants are now below the €7/kg mark, with prices varying anywhere from €6.60/kg to €7.30/kg, depending on the quality of hogget on offer, producer-processor relationship and numbers involved.

Producers should check before drafting hoggets for potential cuts where hoggets are setting teeth or carcase weights are deemed excessive.

The ewe trade is firm, with quotes unchanged at €3.20/kg in the majority of plants and top prices rising to €3.40/kg to €3.50/kg.

The trade in Northern Ireland and Britain had a slower start to this week due to Monday being a holiday day.

Quotes for Thursday in northern plants have been pulled by 20p/kg to £6/kg or the equivalent of €6.98/kg.

Producers with strong negotiating power or trading through groups continue to secure 10p/kg to 20p/kg higher.