The lamb trade has come under renewed price pressure this week, with base quotes falling on average by 10c/kg and up to 20c/kg in places.

The two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants in Camolin and Navan held their base quote steady for Monday and Tuesday, but reduced their quote thereafter by 10c/kg to €7.60/kg plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

Kildare Chilling is also back 10c/kg and quoting a base of €7.70/kg plus 10c/kg QA payment, while Ballon Meats is back 20c/kg to an all-in quote of €7.80/kg.

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Reports indicate other plants in the west have reduced their base quote by 20c/kg and are offering an opening quote as low as €7.65/kg for QA lambs.

The general run of prices reported for QA lambs is in the region of €7.80/kg for farmers with lower negotiating power, rising to €7.90/kg for groups and regular sellers, with odd deals 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher but reducing in frequency. Variability also remains in paid carcase weight limits. Kildare Chilling has joined the two ICM plants in paying to 22kg.

Other plants are paying to 22kg to varying degrees – regular sellers and groups are having success in securing the higher weight limit, but sellers with lower negotiating power have to dig in hard to climb above 21.5kg carcase weight.

Reports on slaughter performance are changeable. Some procurement agents report a higher number of carcases deemed overweight and overfat in the kill profile.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are also some agents pointing to a lower kill-out in lambs lacking flesh cover.

A number of agents have cautioned farmers that such lambs are killing as low as 42% when the average should be closer to 44%.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is unchanged. Prices at the lower end of the market are opening at €4.50/kg. A number of plants are quoting in the region of €4.70/kg, while Kildare Chilling is around the €5/kg mark for good ewes and Ballon Meats is 20c/kg higher. Throughput of ewes and rams remains 30% to 40% below the norm.

Sheep kill

Last week’s sheep kill eased slightly by about 200 head and was recorded at 42,676 head. This is a fall of 16,964 head, or a big reduction of 28%, when compared with the corresponding week in 2024.

Throughput continues to lag well behind 2024 levels, with year-to-date throughput now running over 305,000 head lower.

Northern Ireland

Lamb prices in Northern Ireland are also facing downward price pressure, with base quotes falling by 10p/kg to £6.50/kg for Thursday (€7.56/kg).

The number of sheep exported south for direct slaughter increased last week by over 1,450 head to 4,581, while exports for direct slaughter to Britain fell by 400 head to 1,415.