Hogget prices improve but carcass weights remain an issue

Hogget prices have improved by 5-10c/kg this week, as a number of plants have opted to raise their base quotes.

When Quality Assurance payments are included, most factories are offering quotes of 470-475c/kg for hoggets, but some producer groups are actively doing deals at 480-490c/kg.

Carcass specification continues to remain an issue with some factories imposing price cuts on under-finished and over-weight hoggets, with a 22.0-22.5kg carcass weight cut-off remaining in play in a number of venues.

What are factories paying?

Kildare Chilling lead the way when it comes to hogget prices and are currently offering an all-in price of 475c/kg (465c/kg+10c/kg QA).

And there is little to separate Kepak Athleague and the two Irish Country Meat plants which are currently offering an all-in price of 470c/kg for 2016 born lambs.

Hogget prices:

Kildare Chilling: 465c/kg +10c/kg QA
Kepak Athleague: 465c/kg +5c/kg QA
ICM Camolin: 460c/kg +10c/kg QA
ICM Navan: 460c/kg +10c/kg QA

Moving on to ewe prices, there appears to be little movement in this market with the majority of players offering 250c/kg for suitable fleshed cast ewes.

Supplies improve slightly

The number of sheep slaughtered in Department of Agriculture approved sheepmeat export plants during the week ending February 5 stood at 50,024 head.

This is an increase of 0.8% or 381 head on the week before.

The majority of this increase is due to a 497 head increase in hogget slaughterings, while the weekly ewe and ram kill declined by 0.8% or 60 head on the week before.

Weekly sheep slaughterings

Source: Department of Agriculture

Meanwhile, figures from the Department of Agriculture also show that an extra 28,365 sheep were slaughtered in Ireland so far this year. In total, some 225,915 sheep were slaughtered this year.

Official figures show that hogget supplies have climbed by 23,096 head or 12% on the year before, while ewe and ram throughput increased by 15% or 5,057 head on 2016 levels.

Main markets

According to Bord Bia, little change was reported in the British lamb trade last week, as the SQQ live price for lamb in England and Wales made the equivalent of around 434c/kg deadweight.

The French market also remained unchanged, it says, with lower demand and consumption affecting the trade due in part to school holidays.

Strong supplies of domestic lamb remain on the market, while limited retail promotions have continued and were seen on domestically produced legs in one main retailer.

Mart trade round up

Kilkenny Mart

Sheep numbers remained relatively small in Kilkenny Mart, Cillin Hill on Monday as 300 passed through the ring. Hogget prices peaked at €110/head, but were back by €15-20 on last years levels.

Butcher hoggets sold from €1.92-1.98/kg, factory hoggets sold from €1.92-2.16/kg while the stores on offer traded from €2.20-2.35/kg.

Cull ewes sold well and these lots traded from €45-125/head.

Sample hogget prices:

56kg: €110 or €1.96/kg
54kg: €105 or €1.94/kg
53kg: €105 or €1.98/kg
48kg: €93 or €1.94/kg
38kg: €84 or €2.21/kg
37kg: €87 or €2.35/kg

Raphoe Mart

There was a good trade for all of the sheep on offer in Raphoe Mart on Monday as hoggets weighing 53kg sold for €107.50 or €2.03/kg.

Sample hogget prices:

56kg: €108 or €1.93/kg
50kg: €104.50 or €2.09/kg
46kg: €97 or €2.11/kg
41kg: €90 or €2.20/kg
40kg: €88 or €2.20/kg
33kg: €83 or €2.52/kg

There was also a number of ewes on offer, with in-lamb ewes selling from €110-180/head, ewes with lambs at foot ranged from €140-190 (singles) and €190-265 (twins), while fat ewes made €70-125.