The reduced numbers are also been recorded in sheep mart sales in many parts of the country.
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The number of sheep slaughtered in Department of Agriculture approved plants was recorded at just 36,643 head last week. This was 1,588 head down on the previous week and is almost 11,000 head lower than the corresponding week in 2024.
The worrying decline in throughput to 1.2m head brings the drop in the kill for the year-to-date to 232,921 head, or a 16% fall. This is on top of a reduction of over 370,000 head in 2024 levels of throughput.
The sheep sector in Northern Ireland is experiencing a similar fall in output in 2025, with sheep sales of 439,685 head running 87,551 head or 16.6% lower. Throughput in factories is running over 23,000 head, or 10.6%, lower in 2025, while exports to Ireland for direct slaughter are over 40,000 head lower and exports to Britain for production/breeding are running 37,000 head lower.
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The number of sheep slaughtered in Department of Agriculture approved plants was recorded at just 36,643 head last week. This was 1,588 head down on the previous week and is almost 11,000 head lower than the corresponding week in 2024.
The worrying decline in throughput to 1.2m head brings the drop in the kill for the year-to-date to 232,921 head, or a 16% fall. This is on top of a reduction of over 370,000 head in 2024 levels of throughput.
The sheep sector in Northern Ireland is experiencing a similar fall in output in 2025, with sheep sales of 439,685 head running 87,551 head or 16.6% lower. Throughput in factories is running over 23,000 head, or 10.6%, lower in 2025, while exports to Ireland for direct slaughter are over 40,000 head lower and exports to Britain for production/breeding are running 37,000 head lower.
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