There’s still life in the hogget trade
The lamb prices are steady at 498-510 cents/kg (178p-182p/lb), showing no change from last week, as supplies continued to increase slowly.
The hogget trade was expected to be hit more severely by the ending of the retention last week, with large supplies expected to com on the market, but this did not materialise. Nevertheless, the combination of emphasis on spring lambs and some increase in hogget numbers has been sufficient to slightly weaken the trade. But the base prices are still firm at 378-392 cents/kg (135p-142p/lb), with the higher prices going for the better quality lots.
IFA Sheep Committee Chairman, Larry Fallon says that supplies of Spring lamb continue scarce and he has encouraged producers with quality lambs to bargain for the premium prices which he says are available. He believes that the supply of Spring lambs will be lower than previous years and this should result in a stronger trade.
He predicts that supply will be at least as tight as last year, which was 620,000 head less than in 2001.
On the export markets, there are strong supplies of French Lacaune lamb and Spanish lamb on the French market, where the Irish Spring lamb is selling for 520 cents/kg (186p/lb).
