Sheep kill in Ireland: Supplies rise as throughput crosses 1m head

Spring lambs were processed in slightly higher numbers last week, according to the latest sheep kill figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). Last week (ending Sunday, June 2) during week 22, there were 22,899 spring lambs slaughtered, an increase of 3,610 since the previous week. However, the supply of hoggets fell last week by 2,523 head compared to week 21, and to-date in 2024, there have been 84,046 fewer hoggets slaughtered compared to the same period of last year. The 42,826 sheep slaughtered during week 22 is 3,610 head higher than the total from the previous week. There are 132,860 fewer sheep processed so far in 2024 than there were during the same period of 2023. Taking a look at this year’s throughput figures to date, 1,042,805 sheep have been processed so far in 2024. Of that figure, 852,215 have been lambs/hoggets, 88,612 were spring lambs, with the rest made up of ewes and rams (101,896), and a small portion of light lambs (82). It ...