The sheep trade has continued into the latter part of the week in very shaky waters, with lamb prices falling by up to 15-20c/kg.
Factory prices for the new year had started on steady footing but were not long coming back after that, with the first pulling of prices coming late last week in the region of 10c/kg.
However, further rumblings of price cuts surfaced, and have now materialised.
Base quotes at some meat processing plants have fallen 15-20c/kg while other factories continue to not offer a quote.
Base quotes for lambs today (Friday, January 12) are ranging from €6.00-6.05/kg, with quality assured lambs moving at prices from €6.10-6.20c/kg.
Since the start of the week, as mentioned, there has been a 15-20c/kg fall in prices. Base prices are overall, back about 25-30c/kg since the turn of the year, a little under two weeks ago.
Procurement staff, when asked, remained coy on what the trade could be like next week and on where prices could be at.
It’s a serious knock in prices and is a hard pill to swallow for sheep farmers, especially considering the price of concentrates and feed that is being fed to get lambs ready for market.
The uncertainty of what next week’s trade will be like doesn’t help the situation.
The pulling of factory prices for lambs has made its way down to the mart trade too, where lamb prices have fallen back as much as €6-7/head on last week.