Farmers fleeced on prices because Connemara lambs are too small!

And while Connemara mountain lambs are a highly regarded native, and largely organic, breed, they may lose their foothold on the market – unless they get bigger. 

Prices for Connemara mountain lambs have plummeted this year; some are below €20 per head – down from over €40 in recent years. 

Maam Cross Mart owner Owen Burke says that trends in Connemara mountain lamb prices are disappointing – but he is looking at options as far away as Libya to give the market a lift.

Mr Burke says he has had meetings with three Libyan businessmen in recent weeks at which the possibility of shipping west of Ireland hill lambs live to that country have been explored.

Lambs are killed in households in Libya as part of the religious rituals at different times of the year and getting mountain lambs directly into that market would be very significant. Those contacts are continuing.

The fall off in demand and prices for Connemara mountain lambs – the traditional blackface breed – may be linked to some degree to the difficult weather situation in farming in the past year. 

Buyers from the Midlands had to buy feedstuff to fatten livestock bought in Connemara last year.  However, according to sources in the livestock business, buyers in other parts of the country are looking seriously at the economics of buying the traditional Connemara lambs.

Blackface lambs bought in Connemara in summer and autumn may not reach a good weight for the Mart until February of the following year. 

On the other hand, bigger and rangier lambs could have enough weight put on in the open pastures before Christmas. The extra time, work and feeding involved with lighter mountain lambs may not add up financially.

 For full story, see this week's Connacht Tribune.