Sheep kill: 165,000 fewer sheep slaughtered in 2024
The number of sheep slaughtered to-date in 2024 is now running 165,000 head behind the total from the same period of last year.
This was shown in the most recent sheep kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), which show that up to last week, during week 26 (ending Sunday, June 30) there have been a total of 1,238,656 sheep slaughtered this year so far.
When compared to this time last year, the supply of sheep is 165,495 head behind, or down by 12%.
The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for week 26 (ending Sunday, June 30) and the cumulative kill to date this year, compared to the same time period in 2023.
| Type | 2024 week 26 | 2024 cumulative | 2023 weekly | 2023 cumulative | Weekly difference | Cumulative difference | 24 vs. 23 % weekly difference | 24 vs. 23 % cumulative difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambs/hoggets | 2,471 | 889,041 | 5,356 | 970,491 | -2,885 | -81,450 | -54% | -8% |
| Spring lambs | 37,492 | 230,369 | 51,149 | 294,926 | -13,657 | -64,557 | -27% | –22% |
| Ewes and rams | 4,055 | 119,152 | 5,616 | 138,612 | -1,561 | -19,460 | -28% | -14% |
| Light lambs | 4 | 94 | 2 | 122 | 2 | -28 | 100% | -23% |
| Total | 44,022 | 1,238,656 | 62,123 | 1,404,151 | -18,101 | -165,495 | -29% | -12% |
Spring lamb throughput remains down on this time last year by nearly 65,000 head.
81,450 fewer hoggets have been slaughtered to-date this year when compared to the same period last year. Taking a look at this year’s throughput figures to date, 1,238,656 sheep have been processed so far in 2024.
Of that figure, 889,041 have been lambs/hoggets, 230,369 were spring lambs, with the rest made up of ewes and rams (119,152), and a small portion of light lambs (94).
The national sheep and goat census that was carried out in December 2023 was published by the DAFM earlier this week.
It was revealed there were 2,562,378 breeding ewes over 12-months-of-age in 2023, which is a decrease of almost 100,000 (3.7%) on the previous year’s breeding ewe population.
A total of 82,756 breeding rams was recorded in December 2023, a decrease of over 3,000 on the previous year.
Since 2009, the number of breeding ewes peaked in 2021, while the overall number of sheep in 2023 (3,722,754) is the lowest it has been since 2014.
The 2023 sheep population shows a decrease of approximately 290,000 (7%) on the total numbers recorded in December 2022.
