Exports of sheep from Northern Ireland (NI) to the Republic of Ireland (ROI) in to-date in 2024 are 10.7% higher than the figures of the same period of 2023, according to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).
There have been 146,913 sheep from NI slaughtered in approved ROI export premises in 2024 to-date (up to June 22).
During the corresponding period in 2023, there were 132,692 sheep slaughtered, which shows that slaughter figures this year are running 10.7% ahead of last year.
Lambs weighing over 13kgs made up 93.8% of the sheep slaughtered in the ROI during this time, and numbered 137,843 head.
Ewes and rams were the remaining 6.2% of the NI sheep slaughtered in approved ROI export premises in 2024 to-date, numbering 9,070 head.
So far this year, supplies from NI have not been as high since they were during week 2, ending January 13, when a total of 9,584 sheep were processed.
Weekly supplies of sheep from NI to the ROI were at their lowest during the week ending May 5, when a total of 1,276 sheep were processed.
During that week, a total of 38,565 sheep were slaughtered in the ROI, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
In 2023, a total of 318,461 sheep were exported from NI to the ROI for slaughter.
Of this figure, lambs categorised as over 13kgs made up 290,688 of the total killed (91.3%), with the remaining 8.7% processed being ewes and rams, which saw a total of 27,773 sheep killed.
The highest weekly throughput of NI sheep in the ROI came during the week ending Sunday, November 19, when 9,986 sheep were killed.
The lowest number of sheep from NI slaughtered in the ROI came during the week ending in June 11, when just 2,135 sheep were processed.