The store lamb trade is well under way and mart managers report growing interest for lambs suited to a short finishing period.

Prices typically run from £65 to £75 for lowland types within four to six weeks from reaching slaughter weight. Hill breeds at similar weights are making £10 to £15 less depending on quality.

Lighter lambs typically around 28kg to 32kg liveweight are a slower trade. Prices are typically £55 to £58 for crossbred sheep, with good-quality Blackface lambs making closer to £50 per head.

Reports from the marts suggest more farmers are looking for lambs to utilise grass this autumn, especially on farms that sold cattle midsummer to ease grazing pressures, and are currently under-stocked.

At current prices, there is a margin to be made on short-keep store lambs being finished off grass, provided they are well managed.

At growth rates of 200g/day for lowland breeds, lambs will gain 1.4kg/week on top-quality grazing swards. Crossbred lambs originating from hill breeds will probably gain around 150g/day, or just over 1kg/week.

Lambs weighing 38kg to 40kg when purchased will take approximately six to seven weeks to produce a 21kg carcase at 42% kill-out.

At current prices of 390p/kg for finished lambs, this makes lambs worth £82. With grazing typically costing 5p/kg of grass dry matter, and lambs consuming 1.6kg DM/day, grass finishing costs over a six-week period will be close to £3.50 per head, excluding vet and meal.

With short-keep lambs costing £70 to £75, there is a margin of £5 to £8 in a well-managed grass finishing system.

Concentrate

However, at current prices for finished lambs, the economics of store lambs becomes questionable once high levels of concentrates are introduced. With finishing rations costing £220 to £240/t, every 1kg of meal fed costs 22p to 24p/kg.

With a feed conversion of 5kg meal to produce 1kg of liveweight, it is a cost of just over £1 per kg of liveweight produced, excluding forage.

The potential impact of Brexit has not had an impact on the store lamb trade this year with mart prices similar to previous years.

With farmers predominantly looking for short-keep lambs, these animals should be processed before the UK exit from the EU.

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