The sheep trade is starting the week largely unchanged, with factory quotes rolling over from last week.

Base quotes are slow in many plants to move off a base of €6.00/kg, while some groups and regular sellers are working off a 10c/kg higher base.

Starting quotes in wholesale plants are in the region of €6.20/kg including bonus payments.

Static nature

The static nature of the trade continues to see a high percentage of lambs trading in the region of €6.15/kg to €6.25/kg.

Regular sellers and those trading through groups are securing returns of €6.30/kg to €6.35/kg based on their pricing mechanism, with top prices rising 10c/kg to 12c/kg higher by virtue of conformation bonuses.

As reported in last week’s paper, the two Irish Country Meats plants have moved to 22kg carcase weight.

The main competing factories continue to officially quote 21.5kg carcase weight, but reports indicate there is an increasing number of farmers negotiating an extra 0.5kg carcase weight.

This is easier secured in some cases where the lambs on offer are all well-fleshed, with factories continuing to bemoan the number of under-fleshed and light carcase lambs in the system.

Ewe trade unchanged

The ewe trade is also unchanged. Quotes in the main lamb plants remain at €3.00/kg to €3.10/kg.

Plants are reluctant to pay higher, but some groups and sellers handling larger numbers are securing 10c/kg higher, while at the top of the market, prices in certain outlets for smaller numbers of heavy and top-quality ewes range from €3.40/kg to €3.60/kg for large consignments.