Many reports from agents this week point to a significant tightening in numbers, leaving agents having to work harder to try to source similar numbers to recent weeks.

Their efforts are being hampered by recent price pressure and farmers under less pressure to move stock.

The two Irish Country Meats (ICM) plants remain on a base of €8/kg plus their 20c/kg quality assurance (QA) payment.

Their plants in Camolin and Navan have moved to 21.5kg carcase weight this week.

Ballon Meats has eased by 10c/kg with its all-in quote of €8.20/kg similar to ICM for QA lambs.

Reports indicate that factories in the west are trying to operate from a base of €8/kg plus their respective QA payments of 10c/kg to 15c/kg.

Kildare Chilling is not offering an official quote, but farmers report the plant operating at an opening price of €8.20/kg plus their 10c/kg QA payment.

A significant number of groups and regular sellers are being paid €8.30/kg, with those trading at the higher end of the market securing €8.35/kg to €8.40/kg.

ICM’s movement on carcase weight is said to be putting pressure on other plants to follow suit, with some paying the additional 0.5kg carcase weight sporadically, but not to all suppliers.

Base quotes are running about €1.20/kg higher than the corresponding week in 2024.

This year is one of the longest periods that factories have quoted for hoggets.

Throughput was recorded at 1,312 head out of last week’s sheep kill of 40,209, with the majority of plants content to process smaller numbers.

The base quote is unchanged at €7/kg, but agents and regular sellers or specialist finishers have secured up to €7.30/kg to €7.50/kg for hoggets meeting desired specification.

The fact that the ewe and ram kill of 3,503 head is relatively tight is also helping demand for hoggets.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is firm, with a continued wide differential between quotes.

Opening prices on offer are in the region of €4.50/kg, while most plants are paying from €4.70/kg to €5/kg and upwards of €5.30/kg at the top end of the market.

Northern Ireland

Processing in Northern Ireland has been much quieter this week, with many marts closed and some factories operating at a lower capacity.

Numbers are also tight, with continued demand from buyers purchasing sheep for live export to Britain inserting more competition in the trade.

Base quotes of £6.70/kg (€7.77/kg) are unchanged to 10p/kg stronger, but regular sellers and agents are securing upwards of £7/kg (€8.12/kg) given the higher competition in the market.

The AHDB had not updated its weekly price report at time of going to print, but reports indicate that demand is exceeding supply and driving prices above £7.50/kg (€8.70/kg).