The sheep trade this week has seen spring lamb and hogget prices take a hit as factories have moved towards lowering their offerings to farmers.
Since May 20, just a month ago, prices for spring lambs have dropped from between €0.85-1.00/kg in cases.
With some factories paying up to 21.5kg, this is representing a loss of up to €21.50/lamb in the space of a month.
For hoggets, prices have dropped by up to €1.50/kg in cases since last month, while some processors are not quoting for hoggets this week.
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) sheep chair Adrian Gallagher said supplies of suitably finished lambs are tight on the ground and further cuts to lamb prices is “unacceptable”.
He said factories must recognize the cost of production sheep farmers face to finish lambs at this time of year.
“The number of suitable lambs factories need to fill markets are not available on the ground and this approach only serves to undermine confidence in the sector.”
Gallagher said hogget supplies are dropping week on week and with no surge of spring lambs coming to market will result if further tightening of supplies over the coming weeks.
“Farmers should sell hard while moving lambs at optimum weights to maximize returns and take control back from factories,” Gallagher added.
Spring lamb prices
A year ago, base prices for spring lambs ranged from €7.60-7.70/kg, while those in the QA (quality assured) bracket fetched prices up to €7.80/kg.
For today only, Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €8.50/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs up to 21.5kg, a total of €8.70/kg, and a 30c/kg drop in price since last week.
Other outlets are paying €8.35/kg plus a 15c QA bonus up to 23.5kg, a total of €8.50/kg and a drop in price of 50c/kg since a week ago.
Hogget prices
During the same week in 2023, hogget base prices were from €6.85-7.00/kg, while QA hoggets were quoted from €6.65-7.10/kg.
This week, ICM is quoting €7.50/kg, plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, which is a total of €7.70/kg for a hogget, which is a 50c/kg cut in price since last week.
Some outlets are not quoting for hoggets this week.
Cull ewes
During the same week in 2023, ewes were fetching base prices from €3.30-3.50/kg.
ICM is currently offering €4/kg for heavy ewes, with other outlets also paying the same price this week.