Consumption levels of lamb have fallen and there is a need to increase lamb promotion to younger consumers, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has heard.
The committee met yesterday evening (Wednesday, July 12) to continue discussions on how the Irish sheep sector can be developed.
The chair of the committee, Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill, said sheep farmers currently face the double challenge of higher costs and lower margins.
“The overwhelming amount of Irish lamb meat is exported, most of which goes to the EU and UK, with small but growing international markets beyond Europe,” Deputy Cahill said.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine heard from representatives of Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and Bord Bia yesterday evening.
Bord Bia
According to Bord Bia, Ireland currently exports 85% of the lamb produced in the country with the largest majority destined for customers in mainland Europe and the UK.
It also highlighted to the committee that current export markets have a “strong preference” for cuts of lamb from carcases weighing between 18-21kg.
“Carcase weight, along with conformation and fat cover, is also particularly important when lamb is being exported in carcase form.
“The volume share of carcase exports was as low as 27% in 2019, however this increased to 38% of all Irish lamb exports in 2022.
“Reduced lamb exports from the UK up to 2022 had increased market demand for carcase lamb in key mainland Europe markets,” Bord Bia detailed.
According to the Irish food board, organic lamb production in Ireland only accounts for 1% of overall lamb production but it expects that this market will “grow substantially”.
Meat Industry Ireland
Philip Carroll, chair of MII, also told the Oireachtas committee that the value of sheepmeat exports increased last year by 17% to €475 million.
“This is the third consecutive year in which Irish sheepmeat recorded value and volume growth.
“The processing sector supports in excess of 34,000 sheep farmers, and a further 2,000 jobs in processing and related industry services,” Carroll added.
But he also warned that the industry had experienced “some significant challenges” because of the cost-of-living crisis over the last year.
Carroll said: “Consumption levels have fallen, alongside beef and pork, with only poultry showing any sort of consumption uplift over recent months, reflected of course in lower retail
prices for poultry.
“MII and our processors acknowledge the difficulties some sheep producers are facing as a direct consequence of the impact of higher input costs associated with the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.”