Easter boost for spring lamb and hogget prices

PRICES strengthened through last week as scarce supplies led to daily gains for producers in the run up to.

Most of the gains over the past week in prices for both the spring lambs and the hoggets was maintained for the re-opening prices for this week, but without the guarantee that they would be held beyond mid-week.

Up to 537 cents/kg (192p/lb) was on offer as a base price for the spring lambs at the factories on Tuesday, with most of the processors who were buying spring lamb offering 532 cents/kg (190p/lb) for supplies, which continue to be scarce. The improvement in the hogget prices for last week was being maintained also on Tuesday, with the base prices ranging from 403 back to 386 cents/kg (144p-138p/lb), but these prices are under threat from any increase in supply of either the hoggets or the spring lamb.