The ‘record’ prices currently being paid for sheepmeat, particularly lamb, is as a result of tight supply on the continent according to sheepmeat and livestock manager with Bord Bia, Seamus McMenamin.
He was speaking to Agriland on the latest episode of the AgriFocus podcast.
“We’re look at a very tight supply situation and that’s driving these higher prices,” he said.
“Easter and Ramadan have come in very quick succession this year and around that time there is always peak demand for lamb, obviously, and peak throughput to go along with that.
“If I was to look at the European markets, there is strong demand there for sheepmeat because over the last 12 months, they killed a lot of lambs in the first half of the year, so now there [are] extremely tight supplies on the continent for sheepmeat,” McMenamin added.
Ireland and the UK are primary exporters of sheepmeat into European markets.
Premium for spring lamb
With quality assured spring lamb fetching quotes as high as €9.40/kg, the Bord Bia manager explained that there tends to be “premium” for spring lamb at this time of the year.
“The hogget trade is obviously very strong as well and there is good demand there for lambs, particularly those that meet the spec of what the factories want, bot for the domestic market and for export,” McMenamin continued.
Whether or not farmers should be rushing to sell their sheep or lamb at the moment, is not something the Bord Bia manager would be drawn on.
However, he did say that indications from factories to farmers at the moment are that supplies will continue to remain tight in the medium-term.
McMenamin indicated that his colleagues in the UK have said they are forecasting a 10% decline in the number of sheep they will have available for processing in the first half of the year.
In relation to Ireland, he explained that there is likely to be a decline in the national ewe flock in 2024, based on latest data from the sheep census.
While the hogget kill this year is on par with previous years, McMenamin said that live exports of sheep to the continent must also be considered as a factor in the potential reduction of available sheep for processing this year.
Quality of sheepmeat
While there appeared to be some concerns about carcass quality last year, the Bord Bia manager said that does not seem to be an issue this year.
He told the podcast: “The reports from the factories have actually come back to say that the lambs are generally of very good quality and meeting spec in terms of both carcass weight and the cover on the lambs.
“You know, we have seen a much milder winter as well so lambs maybe haven’t had the same production difficulties and then obviously the price of concentrates has come down a bit so farmers are willing to feed a wee bit more concentrates.”
Obviously then, the strong prices as well encourage a farmer to meet that spec and I suppose meeting the spec that the factory wants does return a better price to the farmer ultimately.”
You can listen to the interview in full with Seamus McMenamin by clicking here.