British lamb supply set to rise
Latest figures from the Meat and Livestock Commission in Britain suggest that most of the additional lambs will not come to market until the final quarter of the year, when the throughput is expected to be 7% higher than last year adding about 290,000 extra lambs to the supply.
Bord Bia reports that lamb supplies for the first half of the year were 4% higher with an additional 220,000 head. Average weights were also higher than last year.
The combination of stronger supply and higher carcass weights increase the supply of lamb meats by 7,000 tonnes, an increase of 5%.
Britain exported 5% less lamb - making an additional 2,000 tonnes available for the domestic market in addition to the increase of 7,000 tonnes produced - which resulted in a decline of over 9,000 tonnes, equal to 11% in imports for the first six months of the year.
There was also an increase of 60,000 head in the cull ewe throughput for the first quarter of the year and an extra 55,000 head during the second quarter. The pattern of cull ewe supply in Britain was similar to that experienced in this country for the first half. This reflected the removal of any necessity for farmers to retain ewes for premia purposes.
While a lower supply of culls is expected for the third quarter of the year, the supply for the final quarter in Britain is forecast to be 60,000 head higher than for the same period last year, amounting to an additional 140,000 cull ewes slaughtered in 2005, but disposals for 2006 are expected to return to the normal pattern of around 1.8 million head.
Import supplies for the first five months from EU countries declined by 34%.
