The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association, ICSA Ireland, has criticised the recent cut in lamb prices and has urged sheep farmers to be alert to differing upper weight limits.
ICSA national sheep chair, Paul Brady, said the price for lamb has fallen sharply in recent days. “It is unacceptable that prices have fallen by up to 20c per kg over the past few days, with some factories quoting as low as €4.80/kg for lambs. On top of that, many factories are only paying out up to 21kg, or 22kg in rare cases. With many R and U grade lambs hitting the 23kg mark, my advice for farmers would be to shop around for the best price and to pay close attention to the upper weight limits being set by the factories.”
He continued: “The way I see it, factories are being paid for the entire carcass so there is no justification for the factories to be setting these upper weight limits in the first place.”
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