According to meat promotional body the Northern Ireland Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), the 2026 lamb crop is making its way to market with “strong” entries of lambs being sold and meeting firm demand.
This comes following what it described as a “wet and challenging” spring.
Butcher type lambs reached £10/kg on 22nd April 2026 at Ballymena mart, with a sale average of £9.80p/kg for 390 lambs. During the corresponding sale of 2025, a sale entry less than half the size (187 head), sold to an average of £7.25/p/kg with quality lambs topping at £7.86/kg.
Comparative to previous years, the Commission found that sheep markets across NI, GB and ROI remained “strong”. Locally, the larger hogget carryover saw NI hogget throughput during January to March total 114,389 head, 37.8% (31,358 head) ahead of levels processed during the corresponding 13-week period of 2025 (83,031 head).
The trade in NI peaked at the end of March when hoggets and spring lambs reached almost £200 per head in plants, while cull stock exceeded £350 in local marts. Since then, LMC found prices have softened across local marts. Base quotes received by LMC from two major plants on 6th May for R3 grade hoggets ranged from 790-800p/kg, with R3 lamb quotes in the region of 840-860p/kg to 21kg.
Trade peaked as Easter coincided with Ramadan
In GB and ROI, the hogget and ewe trade also peaked at the end of March as Easter production coincided with the end of Ramadan. Hogget prices have since softened but trade for lambs and cull sheep remains at a record high.
Insight from LMC suggested that producers were availing of strong market prices with cull stock having been offloaded from local farms in recent weeks following weaning. It said that this was in part a response to difficult weather conditions, which LMC found had affected turn out periods in spring.
Moreover, high fuel and fertiliser prices are expected to impact forage supplies next winter.
