The sheep trade has stabilised, albeit at a low level. All factories remain on the same quote for Thursday morning as they quoted last week.

Kildare Chilling remains top of the table at a base quote of €4.60/kg, with its 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus putting them ahead of Moyvalley Meats’ all-in quote of €4.60/kg.

ICM Camolin and Navan plants remain on a base of €4.50/kg plus 10c/kg QA bonus, while Ballon Meats is quoting €4.50/kg all-in.

Kepak Athleague is offering a base of €4.40/kg and a 15c/kg QA payment, while Dawn Ballyhaunis offers no quote for this week.

The range in quotes is obviously having a big effect on prices paid, with non-QA lamb generally moving at the base quotes listed.

Sellers with greater negotiating power are securing returns ranging anywhere from €4.60/kg to €4.75/kg, with producer group returns ranging on average from €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg or slightly higher when conformation bonus payments or allowances on transport are factored in.

Some producers have also had some limited success this week in pushing weight limits to 21.5kg carcase weight, while other plants have told groups they will increase to 21.5kg on 1 September.

Reports point to one producer group securing a carcase weight of 22kg this week.

Other reports also suggest some finishers are trying to market lambs at 21kg carcase weight to compensate for lower prices and held off moving lambs last week.

This could be reflected in tighter lamb supplies resulting in the kill falling 3,053 to 63,907 head.

Northern factory quotes for Thursday have slipped 5p/kg to 10p/kg.

Dunbia is quoting £3.70/kg, which equates to €4.07/kg at 90.8p to the euro and €4.29/kg VAT inclusive at 5.4%.

Linden Foods is quoting 10p/kg lower.

Last week’s kill reduced 938 head, but still remains strong at 10,996.

The number of sheep imported south for direct slaughter is also steady at 10,462 head, with year-to-date imports running 38,441 head behind 2018 levels.

Ewe trade

While last week’s sheep kill in the south fell, the number of ewes and rams processed increased 804 head to 11,370.

Quotes have slipped 10c/kg in ICM to €2.50/kg, similar to Kepak, while Kildare Chilling is not quoting for ewes for Thursday.

Ballon Meats continues to offer the highest ewe quote of €2.70/kg, a reduction of 10c/kg on last week’s level.

The ewe and ram kill is presently high, but total numbers processed in 2019 is 56,241 head below the corresponding period in 2018.

Read more

SheepWatch: store and factory lamb prices take a hit