The sheep trade this week has shown signs of stability for lamb prices, but the same cannot be said for offerings for ewes from some processors.
This week (beginning Monday, August 19), base prices for spring lambs are at €7/kg up to €7.05/kg, while quality assured (QA) lambs will fetch prices of €7.20/kg
Base quotes 12 months ago stood at €6/kg up to €6.05/kg, with QA lambs moving at €6.20/kg.
A year ago, cull ewes were being paid from €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg.
Today, up to €4/kg is available for a cull ewe. This price is from Irish Country Meats (ICM), where a year ago, €2.90/kg was available.
This represents an increase of €1.10/kg, or a rise of €49.50/kg on a 45kg carcass in one year.
153,114 ewes and rams have been slaughtered to-date according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
This represents a reduction of 22,328 head when compared to the number that were slaughtered up to the same period of 2023.
Sheep trade- spring lambs
ICM is quoting €7/kg plus a 20c/kg quality assured (QA) bonus for spring lambs up to 22kg, a total of €7.20/kg.
Kildare Chilling is not quoting for spring lambs today.
Other outlets are paying €7.05/kg plus a 15c QA bonus up to 22kg, a total of €7.20/kg.
Cull ewes
Kildare Chilling, for ewes weighing from 35kg to 43kg, is paying €3.90/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus this week, which is a reduction of 10c/kg in one week.
The processor is also paying €3.40/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for ewes that are weighing from 23kg to 35kg, which is a reduction of 20c/kg in a week.
Thin ewes will continue to be paid at €3/kg by Kildare Chilling.
Other processors have also dropped their offerings for cull ewes by 10c/kg and are paying €3.80/kg plus a QA bonus of 10c/kg for ewes weighing over 30kg.
ICM is paying €4/kg for ewes this week.