The supply of finished spring lambs has fallen by 31,490 head in the first 22 weeks of this year when compared to figures from the same time period of 2022.
This can be attributed to a number of factors including low scanning rates last season coupled with unfavourable weather conditions in March and April of this year.
Despite this, weekly supplies of spring lamb have picked up considerably and in the past two weeks, have surpassed the weekly hogget kills which have significantly dropped off.
The overall sheep kill to date this year is up 2% or 28,500 head on the same time period of last year.
The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill to date this year (note the total section includes light lambs):
Category Weekly Cumulative Weekly Cumulative Weekly Cumulative Weekly Cumulative 2023 2023 2022 2022 Difference Difference % Diff. % Diff. Lambs/Hoggets 16,382 936,261 10,821 876,278 5561 59,983 51% 7% Spring Lambs 31,719 122,529 37,681 154,019 -5,962 -31,490 -16% -20% Ewes and Rams 6,038 116,766 5,812 116,807 226 -41 4% 0% Total 54,142 1,175,665 54,335 1,147,188 -193 28,477 0% 2%
As can be seen from the table above, the ewe kill remains virtually on par with last year. The supply of hoggets is up by 7% or just under 60,000 head and the supply of spring lambs is down by 20% or 31,490 head.
The graph below shows weekly sheep slaughterings in the first 22 weeks of this year compared to the first 22 weeks of last year:
As can be seen from the graph above, supplies of finished sheep peaked in week 12 of this year at just over 67,000 head.
Supplies peaked last year in week 27 which was the week before Eid al-Adha took place, however the festival is expected to take place in late-June this year.
It remains to be seen how lamb supply and demand will go this year but early indications would suggest a price increase is on the cards for the week commencing Monday, June 12.