Hogget prices rising despite dirty sheep row

PRICES for hogget jumped significantly yesterday morning.

Factory quotes this week for hogget are anything from 20-25c/kg ahead of where they were last week with Kepak Athleague heading the table on an official quote of €5.35kg +5c/kg bonus, a jump of 25c/kg on last week.

Also up 25c/kg on last week are Dawn Ballyhaunis whose quote of €5.25/kg for hogget moves them level with the two ICMs who themselves are up 20c/kg to €5.25/kg.

The only price difference between them continues to be the level of bonus on offer — 10c/kg at the two ICMs against the 5c/kg paid by Dawn. Kildare Chilling who were top of the pile last week slip to second place despite rising their official quote for hogget by 20c/kg to €5.30/kg. Moyvalley quoted a straight €5.30/kg for hogget yesterday.

On the issue of the “dirty sheep” I see the IFA have put a figure of over 7,000 as being the number of lambs rejected by the department as they were deemed to fall into Category C.

IFA sheep chairman Sean Dennehy was critical of the department officials, claiming some were going “over the top” on the issue and there was a “complete lack of consistency”.

Mr Dennehy claimed it was never intended that “farmers would have to fully shear some sheep”.

John Brooks of the ICSA claimed it was “causing havoc in the factories”, with farmers holding back supplying lambs because of the uncertainty.

The Department said it was continuing to engage on the issue and results were “very encouraging, notwithstanding some few tensions and requests for further clarification/information — which is not unexpected”.

The reality is that there is a culture issue to be dealt with here.

Tradition was that farmers often presented their stock as best they could during times of inclement weather. The message from the department is now crystal clear: this is no longer sufficient.

That said I still believe that an examination of how fleeces are removed and the technology currently in use in the processing plants could also do with some revision.

If the Irish sheep business is to continue to evolve in the supply of quality sheep meats, the conversation between factories, the department and farmers has to be a two-way street.

Away from the business of how you operate a sheep plant, hogget prices on the ground are reported as being at a top of €5.50/kg with the IFA reporting €5.60/kg as “possible” in places.