This week’s sheep trade sees up to €8.00/kg available for lambs at the higher end of the price scale this week, despite factory quotes remaining 20c/kg below this level in general.
Ewe price has increased at some outlets this week, with premium prices as high as €4.60/kg available for choice, fat ewes but prices around the €4.10/kg are more widely available at factories this week.
Most outlets continue to put forward a quote of €7.80/kg for Quality Assured (QA) lambs this week.
In the week ending Sunday, November 17, just over 37,700 sheep were slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved factories, down 21,500 head from the same week of 2023, with the lamb kill down by almost 18,000 head.
The cumulative sheep kill to date this year is down 11% or 272,500 head with the lamb kill down 137,300 head or 11%.
According to Bord Bia, relatively tight lamb supplies combined with some stability in demand from the domestic and export markets have contributed to this firming of the trade all year.
Tighter lamb supplies are also a feature in other key lamb producing regions of Europe and the UK, with the latest Eurostat figures indicating a contraction in breeding flock numbers in many regions.
The Irish ewe flock contracted by 3.7% in the December 2023 census versus December 2022 levels. This decline in the ewe flock of 107,000 head is one factor contributing to the tightness in supplies currently.
Sheep trade at Dowra Mart
Dowra Mart in Co. Cavan hosted its weekly sheep sale on Friday, November 22, with a smaller show of sheep due to road conditions.
Despite this, prices continued to rise for both fat lambs and store lambs. Three lambs weighing 59kg sold for €192/head, while another pen of 25 lambs weighing 54kg on average sold for €189/head.
A pen of 27 lambs weighing 47.6kg on average sold for €174/head.
A batch of 34 store lambs weighing 41kg sold for €157/head while a lighter batch of 30 lambs averaging 35.5kg sold for €140.50/head. Another batch of 12 lambs weighing 30kg sold for €123/head.