Last week’s sheep kill dipped below 45,000 head making it the lowest weekly sheep kill to date this year.
Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show a total of 43,791 sheep were slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, June 11 (week 23).
With less than two weeks to go until the Muslim festival Eid al Adha gets underway, demand for Irish lamb is traditionally very strong in the lead up to the festival.
The graph below shows total weekly sheep kill figures for the first 23 weeks of this year, compared to last year:
As can be seen from the graph above, supply peaked in week 27 of last year, the week before the 2022 Eid festival got underway.
The festival takes place earlier this year and it will be interesting to see if supplies will bounce back over 65,000 head before the event.
Conversations with sheep farmers across the country would indicate that while lambs are now thriving well, the lamb crops are much smaller this year due to lower scanning rates and tough weather conditions experienced in March and April.
The table below gives a breakdown of the sheep kill in the first 23 weeks of this year compared to last year:
Category Week 23, this year Cumulative
2023Week 23, last year Cumulative last year Weekly difference Cumulative difference % weekly difference %cumulative difference Lambs/Hoggets 10,827 947,088 5,737 882,015 5,090 65,073 89% 7% Spring Lambs 28,178 150,707 27,150 191,169 -8,972 -40,462 -24% -21% Ewes and Rams 4,783 121,549 5,332 122,139 -549 -590 -10% 0% Light Lambs 3 112 – 84 7 28 – 33% Total 43,791 1,219,456 48,219 1,195,407 -4,428 24,049 -9% 2%
As can be seen from the table above, the supply of this seasons’ lambs is back by 21% or 40,462 head on the same time period last year.
Despite this, the overall sheep kill is up by 2% or 24,000 head.
Sheep kill numbers are expected to increase considerably in week 24 and 25 and it will be interesting to see if this trend materialises.