Sheep trade in Ireland: Lamb price on the rise again this week

This week’s sheep trade sees factories increase their price offerings for lambs, with supplies of factory lambs not managing to keep pace with previous years. The total number of lambs slaughtered at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)-approved factories this year is just under 880,000 head which is 79,000 lambs or 60% below last year’s lamb kill. Cull ewe numbers are also back 13% or 31,400 head on last year with just under 217,000 cull ewes and rams slaughtered at DAFM-approved factories this year. At the higher end of the price scale, €7.50/kg is being paid for lambs and cull ewes are making up to €4.10/kg. Current lamb prices are almost €1.00/kg above this time last year when prices were just over the €6.10/kg mark. Prices this year have trended ahead of other years with 2024 being a record year for sheep prices. Hogget prices peaked in April at just over €9.40/kg. Sheep trade Factory quotes for ewes are ranging from €3.80-3.90/kg plus a 10c/kg Quality ...