The sheep trade this week has seen some outlets reduce their prices for ewes, while others have increased their prices for spring lambs.

This week, base prices are from €7-7.05/kg for spring lambs up to a 23kg carcass weight.

A year ago, base prices for spring lambs stood from €6-6.05/kg, but during this period factories were still paying up to a 22kg carcass weight.

Therefore, prices for spring lambs are running €1/kg ahead of this time last year.

In the Northern Ireland sheep trade, there was an increase of 4.8t of lamb meat produced in September 2024 due to heavier carcases being presented for slaughter this year in comparison to September 2023.

In the final week of September 2024, a total of 6,070 lambs were exported to the Republic of Ireland (ROI) for direct slaughter, which was the highest volume of exports to ROI recorded since the beginning of April this year.

Meanwhile, sheep farmers participating in the national sheep welfare scheme in 2025 will receive an additional €5/ewe, following the announcement in last week’s Budget 2025.

The increase of €7 million in funding for the scheme increases the rate of payment from €8 to €13/ewe next year.

Spring lambs

This week, Irish Country Meats (ICM) is offering €7.00/kg plus a 20c quality assurance (QA) bonus, bringing its offering to €7.20/kg up to a 23kg carcass weight for a spring lamb – the same price as last week.

Other outlets have offered €7.10/kg plus a QA bonus of 15c/kg, a total of €7.25/kg for a spring lamb, an increase of 5c/kg in a week.

Cull ewes

ICM is paying €3.70/kg for ewes, while other processors are paying €3.60/kg for ewes, and are offering €3.70/kg for ewes that are weighing over 30kg.

Some processors have reduced prices for ewes by 10c/kg and are offering €3.70/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for ewes weighing from 35kg to 43kg, and €3.30/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus for ewes weighing from 23kg to 35kg.