Sheep quotes soar by 10-30c/kg across the board as consumer demand keeps growing

Make what you will of that.

The sun is riding high in the sky at present for sheep farmers, and the only ones seeking the cool of the winter are the factories as quotes for cull ewes, hoggets and spring lambs all strengthened by another 10-30c/kg.

The biggest lift came in the hogget section with both Kildare Chilling and Dawn Ballyhaunis adding 30c/kg, to €7.60+10c/kg QA and €7.50+10c/kg QA respectively.

Dawn added 15c/kg to their spring lamb offer, to €7.90+10c/kg, while the two ICM plants returned on €7.90+10c/kg QA after last week’s no quote.

Kildare continue out in front on €8.10+10c/kg QA, up 20c/kg.

On the cull ewe side Dawn pushed their base quote up by 10c/kg yesterday leaving them ahead of the pack on €3.30/kg.

After a brief flurry back into the public eye last week when they broke their silence with their offering of €7.75+15c/kg for springs, normal service was restored, with no official word on any prices coming from Kepak Athleague.

IFA’s Sean Dennehy and ICSA’s Sean McNamara both said that up to €8/kg was being paid for hogget yesterday, with spring lambs as high as €8.50/kg at the factory gate,.

“For too long farmers have been conditioned into believing consumers would stop buying our product if prices were to rise,” said Sean Dennehy.

“Yet despite the significantly higher prices farmers are receiving for their sheep, prices have not increased significantly to the consumer — and more importantly, sales of lamb in supermarkets have increased.”

Since Covid closed the hospitality sector, whole sections of society have discovered that lamb is not just for Easter or Ramadan, and it’s this new demand from these now enlightened consumers that underpins the strength of the trade for farmers.

On the mart front prices continue to thrive.

On the question of how prices have risen unchecked, the general consensus among mart managers is that, alongside strong demand, sheep factories don’t have their own reserves of stock to call on when supplies tighten, unlike the situation on the beef side.

And while they can and do offer premiums to those with bigger numbers in times of shortage, these operators are as of a rule independent, meaning they are not formally tied as some independent cattle feedlots are.

For now though the sun continues to shine and despite my texter’s suggestion that winter is coming, it’s quite a way to December 21.

Around the marts

Cahir

A good trade, with everything selling. Sample prices among the hoggets included six at 60kg averaging €180/hd, five at 53kg making €176/hd, and six at 47kg for €152/hd.

On the spring lamb side 47kgs made up to €172/hd, with €182/hd paid for 45kgs, while the tops at 40kgs averaged €166/hd.

Dingle

“Telephone numbers,” said Nelius McAuliffe of his sale: 45kg springs made up to €188/hd, and 50kg hoggets sold for €165-175/hd.

On the breeding side, a ewe with twins at foot sold for €250, with a ewe with one lamb at foot making €210. A ewe with triplets clicked €275. Cull ewes sold for €70-120/hd.

Roscrea

Michael Harty was well pleased, with his top call for hoggets seeing 54kgs making €182/hd, while a batch of 42kg springs clicked €160/hd.

Other prices of note among the hoggets included 52kgs at €179/hd and 56kgs at €181/hd.

The best of the cull ewes sold for €165-182/hd, with their overall price range €120-182/hd.

One ewe with twins sold for €299 while four ewes with five lambs made €240/unit .

Enniscorthy

A very big sale, with hoggets up €8-10/hd; butcher types made €176-180/hd, while factory types sold for €153-176/hd.

Spring lambs were back by €5-8hd to €155-180/hd.

Cull ewes sold well, with heavier lots making €151-197/hd while lighter types were €98-148/hd.

Ewes with twins at foot made €210-306/unit while those with single lambs at foot sold for €170-216/unit.

Headford

The story here was of both spring lambs and hoggets selling to a top of €180/hd, which doesn’t sound overly dramatic in the current climate, but  the tops easily cracked the €4/kg ceiling.

For example 42kgs at €180/hd translates into €4.29/kg, while 42-43kgs at €176-180/hd equals €4.19/kg, and 42kgs at €174/kg is €4.14/kg.

On the breeding side second-crop ewes with twins at foot sold from €240-302/kg .

Kilkenny

Increased numbers yesterday, but with hogget prices well maintained to improved.

The 40-50kg section prices worked off a base of €140/hd, with the top call seeing six 49kg hoggets averaging €188/hd.

In the 50-60kg division, prices were €170-184/hd, while two at 61kg netted €190/hd. Spring lamb numbers were small.

Indo Farming