The lamb trade has been broadly steady over the last week. Base quotes remain hard to come by in the quotes table.

From the plants that are quoting, the two Irish Country Meats plants in Camolin and Navan are quoting a base of €7/kg plus 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment, while Ballon Meats continues to offer an all-in opening quote of €7.20/kg.

Reports indicate that quotes in factories not quoting range in a wider differential from €7.10/kg to €7.40/kg for QA lambs.

This reinforces the importance of sellers weighing up all marketing options before moving lambs.

A high percentage of QA lambs continue to trade from €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg.

Many groups are averaging in the low to mid-€7.30s for R grades and 10c/kg to 12c/kg higher for U grades.

Factories remain keen to tie into large numbers of suitably fleshed lambs, with sellers and agents handling large numbers pushing returns at the top of the market to upwards of €7.50/kg.

Numbers coming on stream appear to have steadied following higher throughput last week. As a result, agents have been active since the weekend in sourcing lambs in direct farm sales and marts.

Last week’s sheep kill figure increased by over 2,500 on the previous week to 57,456, with this increase underpinned by more ewes and hoggets.

The kill is in line with the corresponding week in 2023. This also applies to the ewe and ram kill, which was recorded at 8,126 head.

Factory agents remain keen for good-quality ewes and are, in cases, exhibiting a lower appetite for poor-quality ewes.

There appears to be higher numbers of lighter cull ewes in the market which is not surprising given the challenging year to date.

Quotes have reduced in some plants by 10c/kg, but most good-quality ewes are trading upwards of €4/kg, with Ballon Meats remaining well ahead of the competition at €4.40/kg.

Northern trade

Factories in Northern Ireland are trying to ease prices, with base quotes for Thursday reducing by 5p/kg to 10p/kg and recorded at £6/kg. This equates to €7.12/kg at a stronger exchange rate of 84.2p to the euro.

Groups and regular sellers are securing 10p/kg to 15p/kg above base quotes, with top prices hitting £6.20/kg (€7.36/kg).

The number of sheep exported south for direct slaughter eased by 300 head to approximately 6,000 last week.

In contrast, British prices remain solid, with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board reporting average prices at £6.65/kg (€7.89/kg).

This leaves British prices well ahead of Irish returns and opens up a wider differential with lambs traded in Northern Ireland.

Lamb numbers remain tight across Britain, with buyers remaining active in NI marts.