Farmers will hope to see the eagerly awaited demand for lamb come towards the end of the week as the Eid al-Adha festival begins on Wednesday (June 28).
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association’s (ICSA’s) sheep chair Sean McNamara has told Agriland that he expects prices to “pick up before the weekend”.
McNamara said: “They’ll probably need 150,000 [lambs] to fill the Eid festival. There’s serious demand out there at the moment.”
Sheep trade – hoggets
This week, Kildare Chilling is quoting €7.00/kg plus a 10c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus, bringing its offering for hoggets to €7.10/kg. This outlet is paying up to 23kg carcass weight.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €6.85/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for hoggets, bringing its offering to €7.05/kg, up to a 23kg carcass weight.
ICM has also recently announced it has commenced electronic payment in the last month, which may come as a more convenient way for farmers to receive payment for their outputs.
Spring lamb
Kildare Chilling is quoting €7.70/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs up to 21kg, bringing its total price up to €7.80/kg this week.
ICM is quoting €7.60/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, paying up to 21kg for a spring lamb, making its total this week €7.80/kg.
Other outlets are offering €7.65/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus up to 21kg, a total of €7.80/kg.
Cull ewes
Kildare Chilling is quoting €3.50/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus up to 43kg carcass weight, offering a total of €3.60/kg for a ewe this week.
ICM is quoting €3.30/kg for ewes up to 45kg, while other outlets have quoted €3.40/kg up to a weight of 46kg for a ewe.
Sheep news
In other related news, Irish sheep processors have yet to begin the process of seeking access to the US market, according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
Those wishing to export sheepmeat to the US must submit a documented work programme and get approval from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on how they will comply with US food standards from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
However, Minister McConalogue has said: “No sheepmeat plants have submitted a documented work programme.”
Once the sheepmeat exporters receive this approval, DAFM will then inform the USDA that the plants are allowed to export.