Eyes on forecast and hogg price with couples back £10

A lacklustre in-lamb ewe trade has made way for a similarly challenging couples trade, with auctioneers blaming input costs and a slow spring for limited demand.

Ewes with lambs at foot were dearer at the start of the year, but averages of £70-£80 a head have slipped to nearer £60 during a cold and grass-tight March.

This is despite a 30p/kg lift in the hogg liveweight SQQ since late February, which sat at 267p/kg midweek, 2p up on the year.

Cull ewe values have helped put a floor in breeding sheep prices because, despite being £15 a head back on the year, auctioneers say they are still historically high.

See also: Ramadan provides boost for lamb prices

No spring rush yet

An entry of 155 ewes and 226 lambs averaged £59.30 a head at Sedgemoor on Saturday 25 March. Best doubles sold to £68 an animal.

“Better couples make £60-£65 a life readily,” said Tom Mellor, auctioneer at Sedgemoor for Greenslade Taylor Hunt.

“But we have sold them at £60 a life for donkey’s years. Getting that sort of money isn’t enough to warrant the cost of buying ewes in summer and then wintering and lambing them.” Mr Mellor said the trade was nearer £80 an animal for the same good two months earlier.

Exeter has reported a similar trade, with averages at £60, £68.77, £62.53 and £60.12 through March, compared with averages of £81.56, £70.20, £78.98 and £72.56 in January.

Hoggs up £25 in March

While breeding sheep trade has struggled, auctioneers say warmer weather and grass growth could be the final piece in the jigsaw after a meteoric rise in hogg prices in March.

Trade for prime lambs is much more buoyant than the import-affected new-year trade, with reports of major processors and supermarket buyers topping up orders and higher volumes going deadweight and liveweight.

Russell Steer of Kivells and the team at Exeter Livestock Centre have reported a £25 a head lift in hoggs in March.

This week’s sale on 27 March saw 1,800 hoggs level at £125 – £15 up on the week. Strong prices were also achieved in an entry of 1,119 spring lambs that hit an average of 323p/kg and topped at 350p/kg.

Auctioneers reported heavier new-season lambs were more keenly bid for.