Light lamb supply for early Easter

THE supply of spring lamb is still very light, and prices have held steady over the past week, with good demand for the light supply for the Easter trade.

The baseline quote for new season lamb is from 532 back to 530 cents/kg (190 or 189p/lb), but some producers have been dealing at higher prices, where demand exceeds the local supply.

Hogget prices have also remained stable over the past week, with the base price ranging from 370 back to 364 cent/kg (132p to 130p/lb), as hoggets filled the balance of the requirements for the Easter market The throughput of hoggets at the factories has been running at 30% up on the same time last year in recent weeks, with about 45,000 head per week going through the factories.