Sheep kill: Throughput falls over 4,500 head, as hogget supplies dry up

Last week’s sheep kill (week ending May 23) saw a decrease on the week before – down over 4,500 head, figures from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) show.

Of the sheep killed, spring lamb throughput continues to make up the bulk of the kill, as hogget supplies continue to dry up at a very fast rate.

The ewe and ram kill for the week ending May 23, witnessed an increase on the week before.

For the week ending May 23, 42,898 sheep were processed – which was a decrease of 4,600 head from the week before.

The contributing factor to this steep fall was the fall-off in hogget throughput which totalled 6,182 and was back over 7,000 head on the previous week.

Spring lamb throughput continues to rise week-on-week and continues to make up the bulk of the weekly kill.

The number of spring lambs slaughtered during the week ending May 23, accumulated to 29,633 head – which is an increase of 2,139 head on the previous week.

Ewe and ram throughput also saw a slight increase, with a total of 7,081 head processed – up 282 head on the week before.

WEEK-ON-WEEK SHEEP KILL SUPPLIES (WEEK ENDING MAY 23):

Hoggets: 6,182 head (-7,003 or -53.11%);
Ewes and rams: 7,081 head (+282 or +4.14%);
Spring lambs: 29,633 head (+2,139 or +7.77%);
Total: 42,898 head (-4,600 or -9.64%).

Sheep kill to date

Taking a look at this year’s throughput figures to date, 901,843 sheep have been processed thus far.

Of that figure, 680,544 have been hoggets, while 110,034 have consisted of spring lambs.

Ewe and ram throughput makes up the rest at 111,034 head.

If we compare figures to date this year, against the same period in 2020, we can see that the total number of sheep slaughtered is back 64,576 head.

86,061 fewer hoggets have been processed in comparison to the same period last year.

While 6,958 fewer ewes and rams have been slaughtered as well, with only spring lamb throughput seeing an increase on this time last year (up 28,373 head).