The tightness in lamb supplies is clearly evident in last week’s sheep kill recorded at just 41,041 head. Throughput has fallen sharply in the last three weeks with last week’s throughput almost 14,000 head lower than three weeks ago and a massive 20,256 head lower than the corresponding week in 2023.
The tightness in lamb supplies is clearly evident in last week’s sheep kill recorded at just 41,041 head.
Throughput has fallen sharply in the last three weeks with last week’s throughput almost 14,000 head lower than three weeks ago and a massive 20,256 head lower than the corresponding week in 2023.
Total throughput for the year to date is now running over 250,000 head lower than the corresponding period in 2023 with 84,463 fewer hoggets, 119,403 fewer lambs and 47,102 less lambs slaughtered.
Factory agents are working hard to try and increase throughput, but numbers are not forthcoming despite prices running upwards of €25 per head higher.
The lower numbers are stemming from a combination of a significant decline in the breeding ewe flock, a lower litter size and higher mortality in spring while reports also point to higher numbers of sheep being exported.
Factory quotes for this week remain at a range of €7.60/kg to €7.80/kg for quality-assured lambs with a high percentage of lambs trading within a price range of €7.70/kg to €7.90/kg.
Quotes in Northern Ireland remain at £6.25/kg or the equivalent of €7.52/kg with this price excluding VAT.
Production is falling right across the EU with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board last week revising downwards UK sheep production forecasts for 2024 and 2025.
The number of sheep slaughtered from January to September 2024 totalled 8.2m head, a decline of 7.9% on 2023 with total production expected to fall 8% to 263,000t in 2024.
The 2024-25 season lamb crop is now predicted to be 3.7% lower on the back of a declining breeding ewe flock.
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