The sheep trade has picked up where it left off on Friday, with base quotes for Monday and Tuesday unchanged.

Kildare Chilling continues to set the pace with its base quote of €6.20/kg plus 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

The two Irish Country Meats plants in Camolin and Navan are operating from a base quote of €6.00/kg plus their higher QA payment of 20c/kg.

Reports indicate that Dawn and Kepak are quoting in the region of €6.05/kg to €6.10/kg, leaving opening prices at €6.20/kg for QA lambs. Ballon Meats is quoting €6.30/kg all-in. A high percentage of lambs marketed by individual sellers are trading in the region of €6.25/kg to €6.30/kg.

Lambs traded through producer groups or from sellers with greater negotiating power are moving from €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg, while at the top end of the market, a percentage of lambs are trading from €6.45/kg to €6.50/kg when conformation bonus payments are included.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is also unchanged, with a big differential between prices on offer. Opening quotes are in the region of €2.60/kg, but there are few ewes trading at this price.

The general range in price in most plants is €2.80/kg to €2.90/kg, with Kildare’s quote of €2.90/kg plus 10c/kg QA the best of the main five processing plants.

However, this price is to a lower carcase weight cut-off of 40kg compared with the standard of 45kg to 46kg.

Ballon Meats remains well out in front with its quote of €3.30/kg.