Quotes: The hogget trade has seen an improvement this week with base quotes in the region of €7.90/kg-€8.00/kg (plus QA bonus). Producers will larger numbers of hoggets that meet current market specifications have been able to negotiate slightly higher prices.
Prices: The average reported deadweight price last week (w/e 7th March) increased by 12c to €7.65/kg. Despite prices increasing by 23c in the past 5 weeks, the trade continues to trend behind the corresponding period last year when the reported deadweight price was €8.78/kg. Meanwhile in GB reported deadweight prices have increased further this week with a price change of 6c/kg to €8.69/kg. The trade has picked u[p significantly in Northern Ireland with prices increasing by 25c to €7.50/kg. Looking at the Southern Hemisphere, trade has picked up. A flush of new season lambs coming onto the market in some parts of Australia combined with higher carcase weights has had an impact on the deadweight trade with prices for heavy lambs up by 14c/kg to the equivalent of €6.64/kg last week. Meanwhile the New Zealand lamb price fell last week to the equivalent of €5.51/kg with stronger lamb availability impacting the trade.
Throughput: Total sheep throughput in DAFM approved plants for week ending 7th March was 40,051, 16% behind the corresponding week in 2025. Current YTD throughput has fallen marginally behind 2025 levels to 387,021 head, with decreases in numbers across all categories of sheep contributing to this trend. There have been indications of a stronger carryover of hoggets into 2026 which may contribute to a stronger hogget throughput in the first quarter of 2026.
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