Positive outlook for NI sheep sector following challenging weather conditions

The insight comes following Love Lamb Week 2026 which provided an opportunity for stakeholders to join forces to showcase the quality lamb produced by farmers here.

At present, trade for breeding ewes and rams holds strong, with ewes selling upwards of £250 and rams making in the region of £500. Numerous marts have reported buoyant trade, with breeding ewes achieving over £300 and rams exceeding £700.

Demand for store lambs has also held firm, with trade broadly unchanged since 2025 levels. Store lambs weighing 14kg have reached over £110 across the country, highlighting ongoing demand for quality stock.

The LMC Market Intelligence team note, the strength of trade for breeding and store stock sits against a backdrop of a difficult summer for grazing. Drought conditions placed significant pressure on grass availability with many producers introducing supplementary feeding. Poor grazing conditions impacted lamb performance and saw a slowing in finished lambs coming to the market during July and August. The month of July 2026 saw the NI lamb kill at the lowest level during the month for a 15-year period with lambs exports to ROI plants also at the lowest level since LMC records began. In Southern Europe the most severe wildfire season in decades for Spain, and the worst ever recorded in France, has significantly altered consumer spending across this major sheep meat importing region, with thousands of families displaced from their homes.

LMC analysis of lamb throughput for July indicates that the NI lamb kill was 181 head below the same period in 2025 (when it sat at 34,931 head), when a similar dry spell of weather slowed performance. During 2025 competition for lambs from both the GB and ROI market was strong, however during 2026, historically strong Irish importers of NI sheep have been quieter here. To counter this change, the GB market has provided a valuable outlet for local sheep.

During August plentiful supplies of fat sheep came to market across NI, GB and ROI which coincided with product export volumes declining and a reduced demand for sheep meat across the UK, ROI and on the continent. In the GB market, consumer spend on lamb increased 2.2% in the 12 weeks to 9 August 2026, yet this was accompanied by a 6% decline in lamb volume sold comparable to the same period last year. LMC analysis suggests this reflects the wider challenges facing the sector at present.

The outlook for the NI sheep sector remains positive, despite the short-term challenges faced by producers this summer. Strong demand for breeding sheep and lambs here, coupled with interest from the GB market and the regions robust reputation for production of quality lamb provides an encouraging outlook for the period ahead.