NI sheep prices July 2021
Sheep plants across Northern Ireland moved lamb quotes up a gear by more than 10p/kg, in some cases, this week, with an expected price boost on the horizon.
According to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), quotes ranged from 470-475p/kg for R3 grading lambs up to 21kg.
NI sheep prices July 2021
“Quotes for Monday are expected to range from 485-490p/kg up to 21kg,” a spokesperson commented in its weekly market report.
“In the same week last year, the deadweight lamb price was 461.1p/kg. In ROI, last week, the deadweight lamb price was back by the equivalent of 10.8p/kg to 529.6p/kg,” the LMC spokesperson added.
According to the LMC, prices are running about 11.7p/kg ahead of last year’s quotes.
Last week, the LMC reported that quotes for R3 grade lambs ranged from 460-480p/kg up to 21kg.
Throughput
Lamb throughput in NI plants last week increased strongly to 10,480 head last week, up 32% from the previous week.
In the corresponding week last year, 11,808 lambs were processed locally.
A further 5,520 lambs were exported from NI to ROI for direct slaughter last week, decreasing 1,366 head from the previous week.
Beef prices in Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, beef prices remained steady across plants in Northern Ireland this week.
Factories quoted 384-394p/kg for in-spec U-3 grade prime cattle, although “the majority” offered at the upper end of this scale for both steers and heifers.
That is according to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), which reported that quotes for good quality O+3 grade cows ranged from 280-302p/kg this week. Most plants quoted in the region of 290-302p/kg.
“Last week in NI, the average steer price was back slightly to 393.2p/kg. The R3 steer price increased by 1.8p/kg to 402.9p/kg.”
“This was up 30.6p/kg from the corresponding week last year when the R3 steer price in NI was 372.3p/kg.”
“The average heifer price in NI last week increased by 0.8p/kg to 396.9p/kg. The R3 heifer price was up marginally from the previous week to 402.6p/kg.”
In the same week in 2020, the R3 heifer price in NI was 373p/kg, almost 30p/kg behind current levels.
Meanwhile, the NI cow trade came “under some pressure” last week. The LMC highlighted that the average cow price was back 5.5p/kg from the previous week to 294.5p/kg.
“The O3 cow price in NI last week was up by 0.8p/kg to 316p/kg. This is just over 28p/kg higher than 287.9p/kg reported in the same week last year.”
