Cuts to spring lamb and hogget prices have continued as 50c/kg has been taken off their base prices this week.
This week, base hogget prices are at €7/kg, with some processors not quoting at all, while spring lamb prices are ranging from €8/kg to €8.20/kg.
A year ago, base prices for hoggets were being quoted at €6.60/kg, while spring lambs were fetching a price of between €7.50-7.70/kg.
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) sheep chair Adrian Gallagher has said that factories have “moved too far and too soon on lamb price and have effectively led the price down,” and added that “this must stop”.
In the mart trade this week, Kilkenny Mart manager George Candler said that the sheep sale today had “reduced numbers” but added that the trade for quality butcher and wholesale type lambs remained strong.
“The dramatic drop in quotes may have scared off a few potential sellers but the better weather means that a lot of jobs have still to be done around the farm.”
Meanwhile from today, sheep farmers can order their sheep dispatch book and flock register through the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) Services mobile app.
Spring lamb prices
For today only (Monday, June 24), Kildare Chilling are offering €8.20/kg plus a 10c/kg quality assured (QA) bonus for a spring lamb up to 21.5kg.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €8/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs up to 21.5kg, a total of €8.20/kg, and a 50c/kg drop in price since last week.
Other outlets have reduced their prices for spring lambs by 35c/kg and are offering €8/kg plus a 16c/kg QA bonus.
At Dowra Mart on Friday, June 21, spring lambs had a top price of €188 for eight lambs weighing 50kg.
At Kilkenny Mart today, spring lambs hit a top price of €210/head. This was achieved for five lambs weighing 55kgs.
Prices for spring lambs at the sale ranged from €173 to €210/head.
Hogget prices
Kildare Chilling, among other processors, are not quoting for hoggets this week.
This week, ICM is quoting €7.00/kg, plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, which is a total of €7.20/kg for a hogget, which is a 50c/kg cut in price since last week.
The top selling lambs at Kilkenny Mart today were ten lambs weighing 46kg that fetched €187/head.
At Dowra Mart, the top prices for lambs were 19 that weighed 40kg which sold for €148.50/head.
Cull ewe prices
Kildare Chilling are offering €3.90/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for ewes weighing from 35kg to 43kg.
The processor is also paying €3.60/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for ewes that are weighing from 23kg to 35kg, while rams weighing up to 43kg will be paid at €3/kg.
ICM are paying €3.90/kg, while other processors are paying €3.80/kg.
At Kilkenny Mart, cull ewes met “a fast selling trade” to peak at €220/head.