Factory lamb prices do not reflect “current market” demand and are undermining farmers, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has warned.
The IFA said current “market conditions” for sheep meat are upbeat in key export markets including the UK and France, where prices have been rising in the run up to Christmas.
IFA sheep chairman Kevin Comiskey also described lamb supplies in some markets as “tight” which he said has helped push demand for Irish lamb.
However he believes this is not being accurately reflected in prices currently offered by factories.
“Sheep farmers are under enormous pressure with costs of production which have increased significantly by over 30% this year.
“Farmers do not have the capacity to absorb these costs and current prices are not sufficient to cover the substantial increase in production,” warned Comiskey.
He said factories are offering €6.60kg to €6.80kg on weights to 23kg, with higher deals available for larger and specialised lots.
Comiskey added that cull ewes are fetching from €3.10kg to €3.50kg.
The IFA sheep chairman said “suitable flesh lambs” are limited and there is no rationale for factories to weaken lamb prices.
Comiskey highlighted that farmers have already made commitments to finish lambs at a time when production costs are running at an all time and current factory prices are “undermining confidence” in the sheep sector.
He has appealed to factories to increase prices at what he said is a “critical time” for farmers.
Weekly lamb throughput
According to latest Bord Bia’s latest sheep trade and prices report there were 53,543 sheep processed by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) approved plants during the week ending November 26, 2022.
The report also shows that 46,000 of these were lambs.
“Weekly lamb throughput is operating at similar levels to previous years however there are a significant number of lambs still on farm that would have been processed in previous years,” according to Bord Bia.
The food board also said that lamb kill figures for 2022 are running approximately 64,000 head behind 2021 levels and with additional ewes on farm at the last census the number of additional lambs on farm is likely to be in the region of” 90,000 head”.