Ulster Farmers’ Union Beef and Lamb Chairman Robert Davidson has expressed his frustration with the current lamb price differential which he says is disadvantaging producers in Northern Ireland.
Robert Davidson said; “First it was beef and now lamb prices are getting left behind too. It is totally unacceptable. Lambs are currently being quoted at 360p/kg up to 22kg or 370p/kg up to 21.5 kg in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile lamb prices across the water in Great Britain are around £4/kg. This 30-40p/kg differential, which equates to around £8/lamb, is disadvantaging Northern Irish producers and there is no justification for it. The exchange rate is generally favourable at the moment so there really is no excuse. We need our trade to improve to come on par with the rest of the United Kingdom. All our producers want is fairness, surely that is not too much to ask?
“I would also encourage producers to market their lambs strongly and remind them of the need to produce in-spec and avoid giving away ‘gift kilos’ which are not economical to produce.”
