Sheep
Business and Policy September 2025 – Sector Focus: The Cost of Infertile Gimmers
It is fairly common for gimmers (ewes lambing for the first time at two years old) to have a lower pregnancy rate than mature ewes in their first-year lambing. After all, they are still growing themselves as well as developing offspring and also the products of conception (i.e. placenta, udder development, and colostrum). However, we…
Business and Policy September 2025 – Sheep
August Trade Roundup Prime, cull and store trade is at a premium to last year. For the week ending 23rd August 2025, the SQQ stood at 734.9p/kg DW, some 0.69p/kg DW ahead of the same week last year. However, this is back 0.18p/kg on the week. For the same week, the cull market averages stood…
Business and Policy August 2025 – Sheep
New Season Lamb Trade On the week ending the 19th of July 2025, AHDB has new season lamb at 743.99p/kg DW which is a rise of 13.33p/kg DW on the week and 96.7 p/kg DW on the year. The weekly average Scottish prime sheep price is now higher than the 2024 price for the first…
Getting Ewes Ready for Tupping
It’s time to start preparing ewes for mating to lamb in the main lambing season (March – May). Several factors contribute to a successful tupping, with ewe condition having arguably the biggest impact. Ensuring ewes have sufficient body reserves pre-mating is essential to promote ovulation. Ewes should be body condition scored (BCS) post-weaning to allow…
Bluetongue Virus Update
As of 30th July, according to the Ruminant Health and Welfare website, there have been seven cases of Bluetongue virus (BTV)-3 identified in England this vector season (2025-2026). These have either been detected on premovement tests in cattle, or in sheep showing clinical signs which include nasal discharge, a sore swollen mouth with ulcers and…
Business and Policy July 2025 – Sheep
India Trade Agreement An agreement was made at the start of May for a UK–India trade deal. This is likely to come into force at the start of 2026 but there is finer detail yet to be defined for this deal. How it currently stands, sheep meat from the UK will reduce from the current…
Business and Policy June 2025 – Sheep
UK EU Strategic Partnership On the 19th of May, an agreement on a new strategic partnership was reached on the between the UK and the EU. The agreement will simplify the red tape associated with trading agrifood between the UK and EU. While the finer details are yet to be understood; this should see an…
Blowfly Risk and How to Reduce It
The blowfly season is lengthening, with an earlier emergence of flies, largely due to the changing climate. For this reason, producers should be very cautious of fly strike occurring earlier than normal. This article outlines how to reduce flystrike through reducing breeding sites, and how to prevent it. For fly eggs to be laid, a…
Business and Policy May 2025 – Sheep
Trade and festivals The prime lamb trade has slightly decreased over the last month to a SQQ of 702.9p/kg, which is 157.6p/kg back on the same week last year (w/e 19/04/25). Last year Ramadan and Easter landed in the same period, allowing for tailored supermarket promotions, this year Easter was three weeks after Ramadan, resulting…
Agribusiness News April 2025 – Sheep
Ramadan Progresses Ramadan ended on the 30th March, with Eid al-Fitr being celebrated the following day to mark the end of the fast. For this celebration, Muslim families tend to visit friends and family to celebrate the end of fasting and invest in large quantities of meat a few days before this. Typically, we see…