Farmers looking at sheep factory quotes will be left highly frustrated again this week, with three out of the four export-orientated sheep factories not quoting for lambs on Thursday.

Only the two ICM plants are quoting, with their base of €4.70/kg being 10c/kg lower than last week’s quote.

Kildare Chilling is not quoting for lambs, while farmers are in the west are becoming increasingly frustrated with Kepak now not quoting for the last five weeks and joined again this week by Dawn Ballyhaunis.

Farmers report a similar situation on price also easing 10c/kg in these plants.

Ballon Meats is quoting an all-in price of €4.80/kg, with Moyvalley Meats 10c/kg higher at an all-in price of €4.90/kg.

Prices secured earlier in the week ranged from €4.90/kg to €5.00/kg, with prices at the top end of the market 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher.

Farmers with lower numbers are now being offered a price of €4.75/kg to €4.85/kg for quality assured (QA) lambs, with producer groups and specialist finishers finding it harder to exceed €4.90/kg to €4.95/kg.

IFA national sheep chair Sean Dennehy said: “Farmers should dig in hard with the factories and insist on €5.00/kg for lambs. Despite lower quotes and negative talk from the factories, some plants are paying farmers €5.00/kg to get supplies.”

Last week’s kill rebounded by 4,252 head and was recorded at 61,028.

This consists of 52,943 lambs, 7,530 ewes and rams, 496 hoggets and 59 light lambs.

This is about 700 head higher than the corresponding week in 2018, but there are differences, with the lamb kill up almost 3,000 head, while the ewe and ram kill is down by over 3,000 head.

The lower number of ewes in the market is helping demand.

Factory quotes range from €2.70/kg to €2.80/kg, with top prices reported at €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg. Agents have been particularly active in mart sales, with many farmers with small numbers and struggling to negotiate with factories opting to present ewes in mart sales.

Northern trade

The trade in Northern Ireland has eased marginally, with factories quoting £3.75/kg to £3.80/kg.

This equates to €4.17/kg to €4.23/kg at 89.9p to the euro and €4.40/kg to €4.45/kg including VAT at 5.4%.

Regular sellers are securing 5p/kg to 10p/kg higher returns, with agents continuing to compete with buyers purchasing for slaughter in southern plants.

British prices have also eased by 5p/kg to 10p/kg and are quoted at an average of £3.90/kg to £4.00/kg (€4.57/kg to €4.69/kg).

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