Last week’s sheep kill (week ending Sunday, October 29) has shown that spring lambs are still in strong demand from processors, as they made up most of the sheep killed in week 43.
Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that 58,188 sheep were processed last week, representing an increase of 689 head from the week before.
Spring lambs made up 84% of the throughput in week 43 of this year, while ewes and rams were 15.4% of the sheep slaughtered that week.
The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for the week ending Sunday, October 29, (week 43).
Type 2023
week 432023 cumulative 2022 weekly 2022 cumulative Weekly
differenceCumulative difference Lambs/hoggets 274 981,712 322 902,508 -48 79,204 Spring lambs 48,934 1,102,805 51,327 1,183,527 -2,393 -80,722 Ewes and rams 8,980 277,661 10,856 321,982 -1,876 -44,321 Light lambs 0 138 0 137 0 1 Total 58,188 2,362,316 62,505 2,408,154 -4,317 -45,838
Taking a look at this year’s throughput figures to date, 2,362,316 have been processed so far.
Of that figure, 981,712 have been hoggets, 1,102,805 were spring lambs, with the rest made up of ewes and rams (277,661) and a small portion of light lambs (138 head).
From the graph above, we can see that the supply this year is firmly behind the figures from 2022.
If we compare figures to date this year, against the same period in 2022, we can see that the total number of sheep slaughtered is behind 45,838head; 44,321 fewer ewes and rams have been processed, while 80,722 fewer spring lambs have been slaughtered.
A higher number of hoggets killed in 2023 has propped up sheep kill figures, with a total of 79,204 more processed to-date this year than in 2022.
There were 62,505 sheep slaughtered in week 43 of 2022, which represents a decrease of 6.9% since last year.