How supermarket packaging is shaping beef carcass weights
Kepak director says an R+ or R-3= is 'a good performing animal' and the ideal fat cover is a 3+ or 4+
Kepak's retail focus within Ireland and the UK is directly influencing carcass selection as it needs to ensure striploin cuts fit neatly into specific-sized packaging trays.
Kepak commercial director Chris Watson told farmers at a Knowledge Transfer event in Teagasc Grange and Kepak Farm in Meath that his customers 'have required specifications' and 'want a certain-sized animal'.
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Agriland
4 days ago
- Agriland
Sheep trade: Eid festival fails to bring expected price rises
This week's sheep trade sees some of the stronger spring lamb, hogget and cull ewe prices reduced from last Monday's price offers as the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha on Friday, June 6, has failed to bring any factory price positivity. Speaking to Agriland, Tullow Mart's Eric Driver said that a change in the interpretation of a rule last year has had an impact on the live trade for Irish lambs going to mainland Europe. The mart manager said that this year, the export demand was only for lambs going direct to slaughter as opposed to previous years where lambs could go for further feeding. This, he said, reduced the window of the alternative-market opportunity to a shorter period of time. Driver said: 'A €10/head premium was available. The 47-53kg ram lambs were making €4.30/kg, that's €197 for 46kg. A 46kg ewe or ram lamb today, €186 would be a very good price. 'The most important point is we took away a little bit of independence from the meat industry for the last 10 days.' Sheep trade: Factory price offers This week, Kepak is quoting €9.00/kg for Quality Assured (QA) spring lambs up to 21kg. This is the same price offer here as last Monday. The Athleague, Co. Roscommon-based factory is quoting €7.40/kg for QA hoggets up to 23kg carcass weight. Kepak is quoting €5.00-5.10/kg for cull ewes. Irish Country Meats (ICM), which is currently running a competition for young sheep farmers, is quoting €8.80/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs, leaving €9.00/kg on offer here up to 21kg carcass weight. This price is back €0.20c/kg from last Monday. The Navan, Co. Meath and Camolin, Co. Wexford-based factories are quoting €7.30/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus, leaving €7.50/kg on offer here for hoggets up to 23kg carcase weight. ICM is quoting €5:00/kg for cull ewes. Kildare Chilling has no official quotes for this week however, Agriland understands the outlet is paying farmers up to €9.00/kg for spring lambs, €7.20/kg for hoggets and €5.00/kg for cull ewes. Ballon Meats in Co. Carlow is quoting €8.80/kg for spring lambs and €5.30/kg for cull ewes. Sheep kill Sheep kill numbers continue to trend below last year, with the 2025 cumulative sheep kill down 17% or 161,000 head from the same time of last year. 33,000 sheep were slaughtered in week 20 this year, down 18% from the 41,000 sheep slaughtered in the same week of last year.
Irish Independent
27-05-2025
- Irish Independent
How supermarket packaging is shaping beef carcass weights
Kepak director says an R+ or R-3= is 'a good performing animal' and the ideal fat cover is a 3+ or 4+ Kepak's retail focus within Ireland and the UK is directly influencing carcass selection as it needs to ensure striploin cuts fit neatly into specific-sized packaging trays. Kepak commercial director Chris Watson told farmers at a Knowledge Transfer event in Teagasc Grange and Kepak Farm in Meath that his customers 'have required specifications' and 'want a certain-sized animal'.
Agriland
26-05-2025
- Agriland
Sheep trade: Heavy ewe and hogget price cuts this week
This week's sheep trade has seen processors move to cut prices for ewes and hoggets and hold spring lamb prices for the first half of the week. Up to 50c/kg has been cut from both cull ewe and hogget prices this week, with hogget price now having fallen €1.30/kg since the start of April. The price cuts come ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha on Friday, June 6, and many farmers had expected price rises in the sheep trade in advance of this, but to date this has failed to materialise. Factory prices This week, Kepak is quoting €7.35/kg plus a 15c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus for hoggets up to 23kg carcass-weight, leaving €7.50/kg on offer here. This offer is back 50c/kg from last Monday. The Athleague, Co. Roscommon-based factory is quoting €8.85/kg plus a 15c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs up to 21kg carcass-weight leaving €9.00/kg on offer here – the same price as last week. Kepak is quoting €5.00-€5.10/kg for cull ewes up to 46kg carcase weight. This price is back 50c/kg from last week. Irish Country Meats (ICM) is quoting €9.00/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for spring lambs up to 21kg carcase weight leaving €9.20/kg on offer here until Tuesday, May 27. This price is at the same level as last week. The Navan, Co. Meath and Camolin, Co. Wexford based outlet is quoting €7.50/kg plus a 20c/kg QA bonus for hoggets up to 23g carcase weight leaving €7.70/kg on offer here. This price is back 30c/kg from last week. ICM is quoting €5.00/kg for cull ewes – back 50c/kg from last week. Kildare Chilling has no official quotes this week but sources have told Agriland the outlet is paying €7.50/kg for hoggets and €8.80-9.00/kg for QA spring lambs. It is understood the processor has less interest in cull ewes this week but is paying €5/kg for these. Eid lifts sheep trade at Kilkenny Mart There was a smaller sale of sheep at Kilkenny Mart today (Monday, May 26) with 350 head on offer. Speaking to Agriland after the sale, auctioneer George Chandler said: 'Spring lambs met a better trade this week especially ram lambs which attracted more interest due to the Eid al-Adha festival.' Spring lamb prices at the sale peaked at €227/head for 10 lambs averaging 48kg. Another pen of 10 ram lambs weighing 42kg made €184/head. Hoggets made from €180-200/head in the sale with 25 hoggets weighing 59kg each making €200/head. Another 19 hoggets weighing 66kg each made €199/head. Cull ewes made from €70-320/head in the sale.
