Sheep Trends: hogget quotes rebound by 20c/kg

Hogget prices have increased by 20c/kg in the last week, with reports pointing to much tighter supplies and indicating factories are finding it much more difficult to secure required numbers.

Base quotes are in the region of €8.70/kg to €8.80/kg, with opening prices for quality assured (QA) hoggets moving to €8.90/kg.

An increasing number of farmers and groups are negotiating returns of €9/kg, with regular sellers and those offering significant numbers securing from €9.10/kg to €9.20/kg.

Sellers trading at the higher end of the market are also having more success in negotiating higher carcase weight allowances, with payment limits increasing to 23.5kg.

This is being negotiated between agents and sellers, with plants sticking to an official carcase weight quote of 23kg.

The two Irish Country Meats plants in Camolin and Navan are the first to offer a quote for spring lamb and are quoting a base of €9.20/kg plus the plants’ 20c/kg QA payment. This is being quoted to 21kg carcase weight.

Numbers coming on stream have been tighter over the last week, coinciding with an improvement in demand for the ending of the Ramadan festival on 30 March.

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at 37,117 head, equating to a reduction of 4,785 head on the previous week. The kill was influenced by one day’s less processing for St Patricks Day, but at such a low level of throughput, it was not the main factor in throughput falling.

Cull ewes

Throughput of cull ewes and rams was recorded at just 2,359 head, well below the norm for the time of year.

Most plants continue to quote a base price of €5/kg for ewes, but, as has been the case in recent weeks, are willing to pay 20c/kg to 30c/kg more for significant numbers of good-quality ewes.

Agents are negotiating much higher prices and this is evident in the ongoing strength of the trade in marts.

Plants specialising in the ewe trade such as Ballon Meats are quoting €5.70/kg, with reports showing prices of €5.90/kg to €6/kg paid at the top end of the market.

Northern Ireland

Factories in Northern Ireland have increased their base quote to £6.90/kg, which equates to €8.24/kg at Wednesday afternoon’s stronger exchange rate of 83.7p to the euro.

Groups and regular sellers are securing upwards of £7/kg, with the live trade also firming significantly in recent days.

The number of sheep exported for direct slaughter in plants in Ireland reduced by about 800 head to 5,156 last week, while the sheep kill fell by about 400 head to just over 6,000 sheep.

British hogget prices reduced by an average of 8p/kg last week, but have also rebounded and are running in the region of £7.45/kg (€8.87/kg) this week.