With this week being the last full week of 2023 that factories are processing sheep, prices for spring lambs have continued to show little change for producers.
Farmers will be keen to offload their lambs this week, as next week processors will be closed for Monday, December 25 and Tuesday, December 26, with factories also closed for Monday, January 1, 2024.
Farmers are still continuing to provide their spring lambs for slaughter towards the end of the year, as the supply of spring lambs increased by 6,928 last week to 55,011, and a total of 1,406,326 in 2023 so far.
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 18) 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 weeks sheep prices from Irish Country Meats (ICM) have shown no change, as they are 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.
Other outlets have offered a price of €6.40/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus, a total of €6.55/kg.
Cull ewe prices
Cull ewe prices remain unchanged from Kildare Chilling which 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.