This week’s sheep trade sees the lower-end of price quotes from last week move up for this week, while the stronger price offerings from last week are remaining steady for this week.
November 2024 (to date) will be remembered for all the right reasons from a weather and price perspective for both sheep and beef farmers and while colder weather conditions are to set in this week and temperatures expected to drop, sheep prices are expected to remain steady overall.
Just over 41,000 head of sheep were slaughtered in the week ending Sunday, November 10, (week 45) which was over 20,000 head below the same week of last year.
The lamb kill totalled 36,500 head, down over 16,000 head of 31% on the same week of last year, according to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) figures.
Looking at lamb prices for this week and at the higher-end of the scale, prices up to €8.00/kg are available for lambs again this week while the general run of quotes remain 20c/kg below this level.
Ewe price quotes remain generally unchanged from last week but the lower-end of the lamb price quotes have seen up to 10c/kg added on this week.
Lambs are generally being quoted at €7.60/kg plus a 20c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus leaving €7.80/kg on offer in these cases.
Heavy ewes are being quoted at prices ranging from €3.90-4.10/kg, with some outlets paying up to €4.40/kg for heavy ewes again this week.
Sheep trade at Dowra Mart
Dowra Mart in Co. Cavan hosted its weekly general sheep sale on Friday, November 15, with “a slightly smaller sale of sheep than had been seen in previous week’s”, according to a sale report from mart management.
While factory lambs remained a steady trade, store lambs “continued to power ahead with some exceptional prices for forward well presented store lambs”.
Fat lambs topped out at €187/head for a pair weighing 54kg. 15 ewe lambs weighing 49.5kg sold at €184/head. Another pen of 17 ewe lambs weighing 40kg sold for€156.50/head and 13 lambs weighing 38.5kg sold at €149/head.