The weekly kill has been building in recent weeks on this spring’s high throughput levels. The total volume of sheep processed to the week ending 19 September is recorded at 2.01m head, some 188,047 head above the same period in 2016. Delving deeper into the figures, there were 125,487 additional hoggets processed this spring (total of 806,473) following a high carryover of lambs, some of which is stemming from continued growth in hill flocks. This is reflected in Figure 1.
The weekly kill has been building in recent weeks on this spring’s high throughput levels. The total volume of sheep processed to the week ending 19 September is recorded at 2.01m head, some 188,047 head above the same period in 2016.
Delving deeper into the figures, there were 125,487 additional hoggets processed this spring (total of 806,473) following a high carryover of lambs, some of which is stemming from continued growth in hill flocks. This is reflected in Figure 1.
The spring lamb kill has followed a similar trend to 2016, with the exception of the kill rising and reaching peak throughput two weeks earlier to tie into the Eid al-Adha festival moving forward.
In certain weeks, the lamb kill has run slightly ahead, with total throughput at 911,076 head, running 20,318 head above 2016 levels.
If the number of lambs born this spring is equivalent to 2016, this suggests that there could also be a high carryover of lambs into early 2018 or greater numbers coming on stream in the run-up to Christmas.
Higher ewe and ram kill
The weekly kill of ewes and rams has also been exceeding year-previous levels in recent weeks. As reflected in Figure 2, the kill for the first five months of the year, at 112,823 head, was running 13,127 above 2016 levels.
The kill has been gaining extra ground since then, with 29,098 extra ewes and rams killed since the start of May, or a combined figure of 42,225 additional ewes and rams processed.
A large part of this figure can be attributed to a higher replacement rate from an expanding ewe flock, with the national ewe flock increasing by 137,037 head to 2.64m in the most recent census in December 2016. This follows an increase of 82,637 in 2015.
No change in NI imports
While there has been significant differences in particular weeks, as shown in Figure 3, the total volume of sheep imported from Northern Ireland for direct slaughter is steady overall at 262,574, a marginal increase of 3,365 to the week ending 16 September 2017.
The drop in value of sterling to euro has increased the attractiveness of northern sheep, but there has not been a big change to 2016 exports, as the sheep trade was operating at a lower price level in 2016 which also made imports attractive.
Unlike the southern kill, there has not been any big change in the annual kill in the North. At 289,578, the hogget and lamb kill is running 4,968 head above 2016 levels, while, at 20,149, the ewe and ram kill is running 2,453 head higher to the week ending 16 September. ]
Live exports
The latest Irish live export figures show 26,623 sheep exported in August and 4,433 in July.
Exports took place for the Eid al-Adha festival and include 15,085 to France, 6,598 to Netherlands, 4,350 to Germany, 3,753 to Belgium, 1,051 to the UK and 468 to Italy.
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