UK sheep production for May declines by 7%

UK sheep production saw a decline of 7% on the year, to 19,100t for the month of May, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) reported. The data, collected by Defra, shows that there was a decline in both lamb and adult sheep slaughtered. For the month of May, 833,000 lambs were processed, which was back 6%. The adult sheep kill totaled 79,000 – down 17%. The data shows that old season lamb (OSL) is the main culprit behind the drop in production, as in actual fact, new season lamb (NSL) throughput is up on this time last year – albeit marginally. OSL supply is now coming to an end, as it is here at home, with numbers processed in meat processing plants in the Republic of Ireland falling back significantly over the last number of weeks. Looking at the UK, over the past five months, around 3.4 million OSL were slaughtered. The AHDB said that this is around half a million fewer than on average in recent years. With this partly down to more lambs being slaughtered ...