Prices tumble £15-£20 as lambs flood forward
A deadweight advantage of £10-£15 a lamb could be eroded this week as lamb supply ramps up and processors make big price cuts.
Exporters have paid £5.80/kg deadweight for lambs this week, while some retail contracts have dropped prices below £5.50/kg. This equates to a drop of about £1/kg over two weeks.
Meanwhile, some live rings have seen numbers lift 30-50%, taking 38-50p/kg off averages.
Ayr, Carlisle, Ludlow, St Boswells and Welshpool all saw lamb numbers lift sharply and trade slip back to 253-274p/kg on Monday (21 June).
Will Probert at RG and RB Williams said downward pressure had now been felt across all types of spring lambs at Ross-on-Wye.
The top-end Beltex lambs with lots of shape held value (380-420p/kg) well into June, he said, but slumped to the 300p/kg mark this week (21 June).
Ross saw 2,213 new-season lambs average 268p/kg (£110 a head) and top at 302p/kg (£151 a head) on Monday (21 June). The average was back 49p/kg and £16 a head on the week.
by Michael Priestley / Farmers Weekly
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