Peak buying of sheep for the Easter trade has concluded with factories moving to cut prices by 20c/kg.

Base lamb quotes for Thursday have been pulled by 20c/kg on last week’s level leaving opening prices for quality assured (QA) lambs in the region of €9.50/kg.

Hogget prices are also in the firing line with quotes falling by 10c/kg to 20c/kg.

This leaves opening prices for QA hoggets in the region of €9/kg with factories also looking to tighten deals on carcase weight and bring paid limits back to their official quote of 23kg.

Some factories are blaming a possible lull in demand as markets adjust to the trade for Easter easing in momentum and Irish farmgate prices running ahead of British farmgate returns as reducing competitiveness in the marketplace.

Prices will also be influenced strongly by numbers coming on stream over the next week.