The direction of price trends this week will come as little surprise to anyone in the sheep trade, as factories are further reducing the prices for spring lambs.
Some factories have warned farmers to be wary of their lambs achieving poor killouts, as they say lambs under 45kg may not return 19kg unless they are on ration.
While feeding lambs on ration will help them achieve target weights, the additional cost of meal will not be subsidised through the prices farmers will receive this week.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) put forward the case for a sheep payment worth €35/ewe in talks with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue last week.
The ICSA’s sheep chairperson, Sean McNamara said: “We need a sheep payment that can deliver €35/ewe on an annual basis, but we also need an emergency package to support a short-term payment of €20/ewe in 2023.”
Sheep trade – hoggets
Kildare Chilling is offering €5.00/kg or the same price for a hogget ewe as it is for a cull ewe this week, which is €2.90/kg plus a 10c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus to 40kg, a total of €3.00/kg.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €5.80/kg plus a QA bonus of 20c up to 23kg for hoggets, a total of €6.00/kg.
Other outlets have offered €5.40/kg for a hogget.
Spring lamb
ICM is offering €6.30/kg plus a 20c QA bonus, bringing its offering to €6.50/kg up to a 21kg carcass weight for a spring lamb, the price dropping by 20c/kg since last week.
Kildare Chilling is not quoting for spring lambs this week.
Other outlets have offered €6.30/kg plus a QA bonus of 15c/kg, a total of €6.45/kg for a spring lamb. For some, this is a price reduction of 20c/kg.
Cull ewes
Kildare Chilling is quoting €2.90/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus up to 40kg carcass weight, offering a total of €3.00/kg for a ewe this week, increasing its price by 20c/kg since last week.
ICM has still maintained its price at €2.90/kg up to 45kg, while other outlets have offered €2.70/kg for a cull ewe.