With prices in the sheep trade receiving a small boost last week, the latest factory quotes have shown some processors have continued this trend this week.
Quotes from sheep processing factories today (Monday, December 11) have remained stable over the course of the week, with the exception of Irish Country Meats (ICM) which has raised its prices for spring lambs.
Prices are also firmly ahead of where they stood twelve months ago, where base quotes for spring lambs were at €6.30/kg up to €6.40/kg.
This year, base prices for spring lambs range from €6.35/kg to €6.50.
Spring lamb prices
Kildare Chilling has maintained its offering for lambs at the start of this week in the sheep trade and provided a quote for farmers today (Monday, December 11) only, of €6.50/kg, plus a 10c quality assured (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.
This week, ICM has increased its price by 10c/kg and is offering €6.35/kg plus a 20c QA bonus, bringing its offering to €6.55/kg up to a 23kg carcass weight for a spring lamb, which is an increase of 0.5kg since last week.
Other outlets have offered a price of €6.35/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus, a total of €6.50/kg.
Cull ewe prices
Cull ewe prices remain unchanged from Kildare Chilling this week has maintained its quotes for cull ewes, while the price differed depending on the weight of the ewe.
In its quotes for Monday only, the outlet offered €2.60/kg plus a 10c QA bonus for ewes from 23kg to 35kg.
For ewes between 35kg to 43kg, Kildare Chilling offered farmers €2.90/kg plus a 10c QA bonus, a total of €3.00/kg for a better type ewe.
Ewes under 23kg will fetch a price of €2.00/kg from Kildare Chilling.
ICM is offering €2.60/kg for a ewe up to a 45kg carcass weight, the price remaining the same as last week, while other outlets are offering €2.50/kg for a cull ewe.