Hoggs rocket past 300p/kg on Monday and Tuesday
© Tim Scrivener Deadweight lamb buyers could be forced to pay higher prices after liveweight hoggs passed 300p/kg earlier in the week (5-6 April).
Numbers remain tight nationally, with some reports of large finishers having half the usual numbers.
Some markets are reporting a deadweight equivalent of more than 675p/kg, depending on specifications and kill out. Wigton’s hogg trade hit an eye-catching SQQ of 367.5/p/kg on Tuesday (6 April).
This is in stark contrast to pre-Brexit fears, which led to more lambs being marketed last year and fuelled the present price spike, leaving a supply shortage.
See also: Lambs hit new year high as volume drops 9.8%
The numbers
-8.5%
Drop in lambs marketed to slaughter in the first six weeks to 17 March, according to Defra figures
-3.6%
How much New Zealand’s lamb slaughter has been down on the year for the first four months of the new season, as flocks rebuild
349.8
Colchester’s old-season prime-lamb SQQ (p/kg) on Tuesday (6 April) for 335 lambs, as 431 averaged 345.2p/kg overall
Rugby
Auctioneer Tom Wrench and the Rugby Farmers Mart team sold 1,672 hoggs at an average of £133 a head and an SQQ of 310p/kg on Monday (5 April).
This was for a second-quality hogg entry with many last draws on show, said Mr Wrench.
“We are fishing in a small pool for sheep and lambs in this area,” he said. “There’s a real lack of numbers.
“Cull ewes are also very tight. Large flocks that normally might be able to find 200 culls can only find 60. We have ewes coming out of Cornwall and Kent.
“One farmer bought a Suffolk-cross shearling for £140 in July, it was culled as it didn’t have lambs and sold for £148 this week.”
He noted a lift in Asian demand due to lockdown easing and an increase in family and community meals, as Covid guidelines allowed.
He added that, rather than erratic peaks and troughs in the trade, a more sustainable price would be better for the whole industry. He said butchers had reported strong beef sales over Easter because of the price of lamb.
Newtown St Boswells
An entry of 808 hoggs averaged 288p/kg and 304.1p/kg (13.6p/kg up on the week) on Monday (5 April). The average weight of the entry was 48kg.
A good show of heavy (55-60kg) hoggs made £155-£165 a head, with the whole sale averaging £139 a head.
Harrison and Hetherington’s sheep auctioneer Adam Grieve said numbers had been steady, although the hard winter had limited quality at times.
He said they would need 700-800 hoggs over the next six weeks to keep buyers satisfied before the usual seasonal increase in new season lambs took over in mid-to-late May.
“Numbers are quite tight here,” said Mr Grieve. “We tend to get about half of the lambs coming from further afield as we aren’t a big finishing area.”