Base quotes for Thursday have reduced by 10c/kg to 20c/kg on last Thursday’s quotes.

This reduction occurred at the end of last week and over the weekend, with reports since then pointing to the potential of the trade hopefully steadying.

The strong purchasing activity of agents in marts is a positive sign for some stability.

Kildare Chilling makes a welcome return to quoting for lambs, with its base quote for Thursday on €7.60/kg plus the plant’s 10c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

This will increase the returns of producer groups working on the average of payment quotes and also insert some competition into the trade.

The plant has also increased its carcase weight limit to 21kg and now matches the two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants, which moved to 21kg last week.

The two ICM plants in Navan and Camolin are quoting a base of €7.40/kg plus their 20c/kg QA payment, while Ballon Meats is quoting €7.60/kg all in.

Plants not quoting are reported as offering farmers base quotes ranging from €7.35/kg to €7.45/kg. At this stage, producers should be negotiating to 21kg carcase weight.

A high percentage of quality assured lambs are trading from €7.50/kg to €7.70/kg, with some deals still being completed 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher when conformation or producer payments are taken into account.

Kill figures

Last week’s sheep kill was recorded at 54,142 head, an increase of about 4,613 head on the previous week.

The lamb kill of 31,719 head increased by about 6,000, but is still running significantly behind the comparable figure of 37,681 for 2022.

Hogget throughput was recorded at 16,382 head, about 2,000 down on the previous week and nearly 6,000 head higher year on year.

A ewe and ram kill of just over 6,000 head makes up the balance.

There is a 30c/kg variation between hogget quotes, with Kildare Chilling top of the price table with its base of €7/kg plus 10c/kg QA.

The quality of hoggets on offer has become very mixed and this is also having a strong influence on prices paid.

Regular sellers with fleshed hoggets that will kill below 23kg carcase weight are in the strongest selling position.

Northern trade

The trade in Northern Ireland is relatively steady, with plants quoting £6.30/kg for lambs.

The general run of prices paid is in the region of £6.55/kg to £6.60/kg at entry level to the market, with regular sellers and groups securing returns rising to £6.70/kg and higher in cases.

The number of sheep exported south for direct slaughter last week reduced by almost 700 head to a low level of 3,352.

Factories have been keen to try to ward off the interest of southern buyers with numbers coming on stream tight at present.