At 62,632 head, the weekly sheep kill has reached its highest total for the year to date.

The weekly kill usually peaks in early- to mid-September on the back of strong demand for sheepmeat for the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival.

Just over a month ago, the weekly sheep kill was running between 45,000 to 50,000 head per week but factories and wholesalers have been actively sourcing more lambs on a weekly basis ahead of the festival.

For the year to date, the sheep kill is 1.69 million lambs and on a par with 2015. Imports from Northern Ireland account for approximately 240,000 of this annual kill total.

Numbers of imported sheep from north of the border are running around 28% higher than last year, with an extra 50,000 sheep moving to southern plants for slaughter.