Last week\u2019s sheep kill resulted in over 39,000 sheep processed, according to figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The supply of spring lambs rose by 2,898 head last week, during week 21<\/strong> (ending Sunday, May 26) compared to the previous week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the supply of hoggets dropped by 4,797 head last week when compared to week 20 (ending May 19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The overall supply of sheep in week 21 was 1,514 head lower than the number slaughtered in week 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The table below gives an overview of the sheep kill for week 21 and the cumulative kill to date this year, compared to the same time period in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 121,544 fewer sheep processed so far in 2024 than there were during the same period of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking a look at this year\u2019s throughput figures to date, 999,979 sheep have been processed so far in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of that figure, 836,520 have been lambs\/hoggets, 65,713 were spring lambs, with the rest made up of ewes and rams (97,675), and a small portion of light lambs (71).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Eid al-Adha festival, which traditionally leads to a surge in demand for Irish lamb<\/a>, is set to take place during the middle of next month (June) and may see sheep processors more anxious for supplies of finished lambs.<\/p>\n\n\n Type<\/th> 2024
week 21<\/th>2024 cumulative<\/th> 2023 weekly<\/th> 2023 cumulative<\/th> Weekly
difference<\/th>Cumulative difference<\/th> 24 vs. 23 % weekly difference<\/strong><\/th> 24 vs. 23 % cumulative difference<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Lambs\/hoggets<\/td> 18,218<\/td> 836,520<\/td> 18,373<\/td> 919,879<\/td> -155<\/td> -83,359<\/td> -0.8%<\/td> -9%<\/td><\/tr> Spring lambs<\/td> 16,431<\/td> 65,713<\/td> 25,659<\/td> 90,810<\/td> -9,228<\/td> -25,097<\/td> \u201344%<\/td> \u201328%<\/td><\/tr> Ewes and rams<\/td> 4,567<\/td> 97,675<\/td> 5,494<\/td> 110,728<\/td> -927<\/td> -13,053<\/td> -18%<\/td> -12%<\/td><\/tr> Light lambs<\/td> 0<\/td> 71<\/td> 3<\/td> 106<\/td> -3<\/td> -35<\/td> -200%<\/td> -33%<\/td><\/tr> Total<\/strong><\/td> 39,216<\/td> 999,979<\/td> 49,529<\/td> 1,121,523<\/td> -10,313<\/td> -121,544<\/td> -23%<\/td> -11%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>