Latest sheep kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that the factory supply of lambs this year has fallen 67,000 head or 9% behind the same time period in 2022.
However, the drop in the supply of lambs this year has been offset by the large carryover of last year’s lamb crop.
According to DAFM figures, the cumulative hogget kill this year is 84,600 head, or 9% ahead of the same time period last year with 979,233 hoggets processed in the first 34 weeks of this year.
The larger hogget kill is due to a carryover of lambs from the 2022 season which were primarily slaughtered in the first half of 2023.
The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for the week ending Sunday, August 27, (week 34) and the cumulative kill to date this year compared to the same time period of 2022:
Type 2023
week 342023 cumulative 2022 weekly 2022 cumulative Weekly
differenceCumulative difference % weekly difference % cumulative difference Lambs/Hoggets 367 979,233 265 894,581 102 84,652 38% 9% Spring Lambs 48,188 655,664 52,779 723,013 -4,591 -67,349 -9% -9% Ewes and Rams 8,459 192,158 10,267 213,364 -1,808 -21,206 -18% -10% Light Lambs 1 129 – 107 1 22 – 21% Total 57,015 1,827,184 63,311 1,831,065 -6,296 -3,881 -10% 0%
Lamb prices have stabilised in recent weeks after falling significantly from peak.
Weather conditions throughout this season have reduced flock performance and output across the country and delayed the arrival of many factory-fit lambs.
The graph below shows how the weekly sheep kills this year have been comparing to last year:
As the graph above indicates, weekly sheep kills have been failing to keep pace with 2022 levels.
It remains to be seen how sheep supplies and prices will go. 2021 and 2022 price trends showed trade bottomed out between September and November before increasing in the lead up to the end of the year.