Sheep kill in Ireland: Supplies drop by 16,000 head post-peak

The most recent sheep kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) have shown that supplies of sheep have dropped significantly following the peak week for slaughter in 2024 to-date. Last week, during week 25 (ending Sunday, June 23) there were a total of 47,048 sheep slaughtered. This represents a drop of over 16,000 head of sheep, or a 25% decrease in the space of a week in throughput. A significant decrease was also seen in Great Britain during this same period, as numbers were down 14% on the week before, following a spike in kill due to procurement for Eid-ul-Adha. This was according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) that stated that compared to the equivalent post-Eid weeks in 2023 and 2022, numbers of sheep were back “considerably”. The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for week 25 (ending Sunday, June 23) and the cumulative kill to date this year, compared to the same time period in 2023. This week it ...