This week’s sheep trade sees factories increase their price offerings for lambs, with supplies of factory lambs not managing to keep pace with previous years.
The total number of lambs slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved factories this year is just under 880,000 head which is 79,000 lambs or 60% below last year’s lamb kill.
Cull ewe numbers are also back 13% or 31,400 head on last year with just under 217,000 cull ewes and rams slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories this year.
At the higher end of the price scale, €7.50/kg is being paid for lambs and cull ewes are making up to €4.10/kg.
Current lamb prices are almost €1.00/kg above this time last year when prices were just over the €6.10/kg mark.
Prices this year have trended ahead of other years with 2024 being a record year for sheep prices. Hogget prices peaked in April at just over €9.40/kg.
Sheep trade
Factory quotes for ewes are ranging from €3.80-3.90/kg plus a 10c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus, leaving €4.00/kg on offer at these outlets.
Ewes with carcass weights over 30kg are being paid at a higher rate than those falling below the 30kg carcass weight mark.
Factory price quotes for lambs are coming in at €7.10/kg with a 20c/kg QA bonus leaving €7.30/kg on offer for lambs up to 23kg carcass weight.
Conversations with sheep farmers around the country would indicate that the number of lambs available this year will be much lower than other years and Bord Bia supply commentary would suggest the same.
According to Bord Bia, the latest sheep population statistics point towards a decline in sheep meat availability in key sheep producing regions of the EU in the final quarter of 2024.
The Irish food board has also said that contractions in breeding ewe numbers combined with disease issues, particularly the spread of blue tongue, have further depleted supplies for processing across the continent and created firm demand for those available.