After what was a turbulent end to the week last week for hoggets, the trade has steadied up somewhat at the start of this week.
Factories inflicted heavy cuts in prices for hoggets as the week progressed, with Kildare Chilling cutting 30c/kg from its base price for hoggets over the space of a few days.
However, the trade has steadied up and has seen some plants lift base prices from the end of last week including Kildare Chilling who has increased its base price for hoggets by 20c/kg.
Furthermore, farm organisations continue to voice their frustrations at the cuts farmers are being faced with regards to heavy hoggets killing out over 25kg, with factories implementing penalty systems to punish such lambs coming through the system.
This has led to the sheep chairs of both the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) lament factories for pulling prices for hoggets in general and also for penalising hoggets killing out over 25kg.
Kildare Chilling continues to offer €140/head for hoggets over a 25kg carcass weight, while Irish Country Meats is docking 30c/kg for hoggets killing out over 25kg.
Looking at the base prices on offer from factories, quotes range from €6.40/kg up to €6.70/kg, with factories offering these prices to weights of between 22.5kg and 23kg.
Those operating at the top end of the market are securing deals from €6.80/kg up to €7.00/kg.
The ewe trade is much the same in general with 10c/kg more being got in cases. The general run of prices reported appear to be from €3.20/kg up to €3.50/kg.