Factories Must Stabilise Lamb Prices

IFA National Sheep Chairman Sean Dennehy warned the factories that lamb prices must stabilise and there is no need for any further price cuts.

He said, “Factories have a major responsibility to stabilise the market at this critical juncture and further price cuts must be avoided.”

Sean Dennehy said he had met with all the main factories in the last week and they all agreed that prices need to stabilise at this stage. He said market demand is strong, supply numbers are forecast to be less than last year and the main Muslim festival of Eid is on Aug 22nd.

Sean Dennehy said the drought is a major problem on farms, particularly in the south-east. He said some meat plants are reporting as high as 30% of lambs as under-finished. Sean Dennehy said farmers should consider all options to avoid selling under finished lambs including meal feeding. “Under-finished lambs are a significant issue and are causing unnecessary problems on the market in terms of both numbers and price.”

He said the amount of under-finished lambs is adding significantly to numbers at the plants and this in turn is working against farmers on the price. He said if these lambs were not presented the price would be better.