Sheep trade: Factories rise spring lamb prices by up to 25c/kg

The sheep trade this week (Monday, November 13) has kicked off positively, with factories raising the price for spring lamb by up to 25c/kg in cases.

This particular increase is being provided by Irish Country Meats (ICM), whose general manager James Smyth urged farmers to take care in selecting which lambs to bring to the factory.

Smyth said: “Some people are having difficulty finishing lambs and others are not. Be careful with your selection, it was never more important to check for flesh and check the proper weights.”

With regards to the Clean Livestock Policy (CLP), Smyth commented that the cleanliness of the lambs coming in for processing is “a major issue”.

“We are working with farmers, explaining to them they have to be presented properly. It is a big challenge for all of them now,” he added.

The CLP for sheep was introduced in 2016 and it’s a three-category system. Under the policy, sheep are classified as being satisfactory (Category A), acceptable (Category B) or unacceptable (Category C).

It was introduced to “significantly improve performance in relation to the cleanliness of incoming sheep” to Department of Agriculture approved slaughter plants.

Spring lamb prices

This week, ICM is offering €6.35/kg plus a 20c QA bonus, bringing its offering to €6.55/kg up to a 22.5kg carcass weight for spring lamb, a 25c/kg rise since last week.

Kildare Chilling has increased its offering for lambs at the start of this week by 10c/kg for today only (November 13), which will pay farmers €6.50/kg plus a 10c QA bonus up to 22kg for spring lambs, a total of €6.60/kg.

They are offering €5.00/kg for light lambs under 16kg or those that are grading from an O2 to P1.