Sheep kill figures, released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), show that the sheep kill for 2021 was back over 127,500 head on 2020.
This reduction in sheep throughput is largely down to less lambs/hoggets coming through the system last spring, as producers moved lambs through the system quicker in 2020 due to a strong trade at the time, along with farmers buying and holding more ewe lambs and bringing them through to breeding sales last backend as dry hoggets.
There was also a considerable drop off in the number of ewes and rams processed in 2021 compared to 2020, while spring lamb throughput also witnessed a dip on the previous year.
There was also a considerable drop off in the number of ewes and rams processed in 2021 compared to 2020
Looking at the figures in more detail, in total, 2,720,467 sheep were processed in 2021, which is 127,578 head less than the 2020 figure of 2,848,045.
The number of spring lambs slaughtered at Irish meat processing plants in 2021 stood at 1,670,162, which was a decrease of 2,144 head on 2020.
The number of hoggets processed in 2021 amounted to 698,136 head, which was well back on the 2020 figure of 792,622.
Ewe and ram throughput for 2021 lagged behind 2020 with the number of rams and ewes slaughtered coming to 352,036 head in 2021, which is a decline of 31,013 from the previous year.
All in all, the figures displayed by DAFM backs up and illustrates clearly, the tightness of sheep supplies in 2021, which aided in strong prices – along with a strong demand seen both domestically and abroad – for sheepmeat.
Total number of sheep slaughtered in 2021 versus 2020:
- Lambs/hoggets: 698,136 (-94,486 head or -12%);
- Spring lambs: 1,670,162 (-2,144 head or -0.0001%);
- Ewes and rams: 352,036 (-31,013 head or -8%);
- Light lambs: 133 (+65 head or +96%);
- Total: 2,720,467 (-127,578 head or -4%).