Sheep kill figures have reached peak heights to-date in 2024 as the Eid al-Adha festival has drawn to a close.
The most recent sheep kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have shown that 63,325 sheep were slaughtered during week 24 (ending June 16).
The Eid al-Adha festival came to an end this week on Wednesday, June 19 during a week when spring lamb and hogget prices have taken a hit as factories have moved towards lowering their offerings to farmers.
The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for week 24 (ending Sunday, June 16) and the cumulative kill to date this year, compared to the same time period in 2023.
Type 2024
week 242024 cumulative 2023 weekly 2023 cumulative Weekly
differenceCumulative difference 24 vs. 23 % weekly difference 24 vs. 23 % cumulative difference Lambs/hoggets 17,897 881,369 9,294 956,382 8,603 -75,013 93% -8% Spring lambs 40,995 155,714 37,200 187,907 3,795 -32,193 10% –17% Ewes and rams 4,430 110,418 6,003 127,552 -1,573 -17,134 -26% -13% Light lambs 3 85 4 116 -1 -31 -25% -27% Total 63,325 1,147,586 52,501 1,271,957 10,824 -124,371 21% -10%
The weekly throughput is at the highest it has been since week 11 of this year, when there were 61,374 sheep slaughtered, 56,210 of which were hoggets.
This week it is spring lambs that are making up the bulk of the kill figures, as there were 40,995 slaughtered.
Spring lamb throughput remains down on this time last year by over 32,000 head.
75,013 fewer hoggets have been slaughtered to-date this year when compared to the same period last year, while the overall throughput in 2024 is behind the cumulative total up to the same period of 2023 by over 124,000 head.
Taking a look at this year’s throughput figures to date, 1,147,586 sheep have been processed so far in 2024.
Of that figure, 881,369 have been lambs/hoggets, 155,714 were spring lambs, with the rest made up of ewes and rams (110,418), and a small portion of light lambs (85).