The sheep trade is in a more challenging position this week. All factories eased back quotes by 10c/kg over the weekend, with a number of plants also reducing quotes for Thursday by another 10c/kg.

The exception to this is Kildare Chilling and Ballon Meats. Kildare Chilling lead the quotes table with a base quote of €6.00/kg along with its 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) bonus. Ballon Meats has also reduced its quote by 10c/kg with its all-in quote at €5.90/kg.

The two ICM plants in Camolin and Navan plus Kepak Athleague are quoting a base of €5.80/kg with a QA bonus of 10c/kg and 15c/kg respectively. All plants comment that these quotes are just for this week and that quotes for next week will be reviewed on Friday. Dawn Meats says it has sheep sourced for this week and at this stage is not in a position to quote for Tuesday’s kill.

The general run of prices for sheep traded for Thursday’s kill ranges between plants. Where quotes are lower, there are significant numbers of sheep being purchased from individual sellers at a range of €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg. Producer groups and sellers with greater negotiating power are securing returns of €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg or slightly higher in cases.

Factories point to weaker demand following the ending of Ramadan and market disruption due to coronavirus as leading to a more volatile trading environment.

All factories comment that there are occasional signs of some producers nervous by the reduction in prices and drafting under-fleshed lambs at lighter weights.

Weather is also said to be feeding into this situation in places.

This is a false economy, as significant penalties are being applied ranging anywhere from 50c/kg to 80c/kg or even higher where carcases are falling under 17kg and also recording a fat score of 1.

Where there is no option but to draft these lambs, then the mart trade is a better alternative, with store lambs starting to appear in small numbers.

IFA national sheep chair Sean Dennehy said: “Farmers should bargain hard, as factories are paying 10c to 20c/kg over quotes and continue to move lambs as they become fit, avoiding over or under weight lambs.”

Carcase weight limits remain at 20.5kg, with the exception of Ballon Meats which is looking for heavier lambs and paying to 21.5kg carcase weight. Producer groups and farmers selling individually with more negotiating power will see carcase weights move up 21kg from 1 June.

The ewe trade is also facing some downward pressure, with Kildare Chilling and Ballon Meats reducing quotes by 10c/kg. This leaves quotes at a range of €2.50/kg to €2.70/kg.

The trade in Northern Ireland is also facing downward price pressure

Some plants are sticking firm to a top price of €2.60/kg to €2.70/kg, with isolated deals negotiated at €2.75/kg to €2.80/kg. Again, it is advisable to continue to check paid carcase weight limits before moving stock, with these ranging from 40kg to 45kg.

The trade in Northern Ireland is also facing downward price pressure. Dunbia’s quote of £4.95/kg is down 15p/kg on last week, while Linden Foods is not quoting for Thursday. This is the equivalent of €5.52/kg at a sterling to euro exchange rate of €5.52/kg and €5.82/kg including VAT at 5.4%.