After what was a tough year for UK exports, 2022 has started off on a much brighter note, with exports of sheepmeat in January witnessing an increase on the same time period last year.
During January 2022, 21,200t of sheepmeat was produced in the UK, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). This is a 9% (1,700t) increase on the same month last year.
Clean sheep slaughter amounted to 908,700 head, which was 4% higher than last January and 94,500 ewes came forward, which is 16,200 (21%) more than last year, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said.
Speaking about what has contributed to the increase, Duncan Wyatt, lead analyst with the AHDB said that clean carcase weights now average 20.6kg, 600g heavier than a year ago, contributing to the significant increase in monthly production.
"Although questions remain about the kill figures for the latter part of 2021 in particular, we had forecast a carry-over of 3.9 million lambs into 2022, and also an increase in the ewe kill," he said.
Throughput back home
Last week’s sheep kill (week ending February 5) saw an increase of 2,060 head on the previous week, figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) reveal.
Looking at the figures in more detail, for the week ending February 5, 50,693 sheep were processed – a increase of 2,060 head from the week before.
The increase in throughput was seen from lambs/hoggets from the previous week, with the number of lambs/hoggets slaughtered during the week ending February 5, coming to 46,446 head – an increase of 3,796 head from the week prior.
However, ewe and ram throughput took quite a hit from the previous week, with 1,727 head less slaughtered during the week ending February 5.
