Market report: Clean sheep slaughterings down this year

The number of clean sheep slaughtered this year has fallen, with UK throughputs in the first five months down by 15%, year-on-year, to 4.1m head.

Throughputs in May were 10% below last year, at 690,000 head, said the latest report from the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board.

“The numbers of lambs available for slaughter is significantly lower than last year due to the smaller breeding flock. However, other factors may have accentuated the decline in slaughter numbers, including the harsh weather conditions in the early part of the year, resulting in lambs taking longer to reach target slaughter weights,” said the report.

Slaughterings in Scotland, England and Wales fell by 15% in the January to May period, with Northern Ireland throughputs down by 25%. Adult sheep slaughterings were 21% down over the same period, possibly indicating a focus on replenishing flock numbers after many years of decline, said the report.

“With little change in the average carcass weights in May, total mutton and lamb production declined by 11%, to 17,000t. Mutton and lamb production in the first five months of the year totalled 98,000t, 15% lower than in the corresponding period last year.”