This week’s sheep trade has seen prices hold firm at some sites with a lift of 10c/kg in ewe price seen at one outlet while other processers have reduced quotes for this week.
Sheep farmers across the country are reporting low crops of lambs. A poor scanning rate and inclement weather during March and April have both contributed to the low crop of lambs this year.
While hogget supplies are stable, spring lamb supplies are very scarce and will likely remain so for the next number of weeks as prolonged wet weather had a negative impact on the thrive of many lambs during March and April.
Sheep trade – hoggets
Kildare Chilling is quoting €7.20/kg plus a 10c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus, bringing its offering for hoggets to €7.30/kg again this week. This outlet is paying up to 23kg carcass weight.
Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €7.00/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for hoggets, bringing its offering to €7.20/kg up to 23kg carcass weight. This is back 10c/kg again on its quote for last week.
Other outlets are quoting €7.05/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus for hoggets bringing their price offerings to €7.20/kg up to 23kg carcass weight, up 5c/kg from last week.
Spring lamb
For spring lambs, Kildare Chilling is quoting €7.90/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus again this week, bringing its price offering to €8.00/kg up to 20kg carcass weight.
ICM is quoting €7.60/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, bringing its offering up to €7.80/kg for 20.5kg carcass weight, back 20c/kg on last week.
Other outlets are quoting €7.70/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus up to 20.5kg carcass weight, leaving €7.85/kg on the table at these, back 5c/kg from last week and 25c/kg from two weeks ago.
Cull ewes
Kildare Chilling is quoting €3.50/kg plus a 10c/kg QA bonus up to 40kg carcass weight leaving €3.60/kg on offer for ewes here.
ICM is quoting €3.30/kg for ewes up to 45kg carcass weight while other outlets are €3.40/kg up to 46kg carcass weight.