Lamb prices have remained fairly stable throughout much of the back end, but with just four working weeks until Christmas, values are already at record levels for the time of year and forecast to head further north.

Prices have been hovering around the £3 per live kg at some markets for the past couple of weeks with values rising earlier than usual on the run up to the festivities according to auctioneers.

“Normally demand for prime lambs starts to increase at the beginning of December, but this year prices jumped the first week in November,” Drew Kennedy, auctioneer and director of Craig Wilson Ltd, Ayr, told The Scottish Farmer.

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“Prices jumped from 260-289p in a week at Ayr and it’s all down to the shortage of numbers in the country,” he said adding that prices should continue rising well into next month.

Interestingly, it’s the heavyweight lambs that have been attracting the big money all season with the best prices achieved for lambs weighing 47kg plus. Mr Kennedy also believes there will be fewer ‘handyweight’ lambs available to buy when people are keen to hold on to them to get that extra ‘premium.’

With the fat trade 30-35p per live kg up on the year, the store trade is also up significantly, as is the demand for prime ewes.

“We normally see a glut of ewes on the market in September, October, November, and while there have been a lot forward again this year, they are selling for £25 per head more,” Mr Kennedy said adding that store lambs will be up £20 on the previous 12 months.

Backing up these statements, Peter Wood, sheep auctioneer at United Auctions, Stirling, said the trade had picked up more in the last six weeks due to the drier, milder weather which in turn meant that the entries forward had a better cover on them.

“Lambs have done far more in the last six weeks with the better weather and grass quality, so we’re seeing lambs with a good finish on them which has helped to bolster the trade instead of having too many under finished sheep,” he said.

“Lambs will have done as well in the past six weeks as what they did at the start of the season and there’s a bit of weight and finish on them which is what the market demands. We are also starting to see a bit more interest in lighter lambs for the export market on the run up to Christmas.

“The trade is definitely brighter and there are not the numbers out there, so prices should hold up until Christmas,” Mr Wood said.

In Lanarkshire, Archie Hamilton, head sheep auctioneer at Lawrie and Symington’s Lanark centre said lamb numbers are down in all areas as a result of the poor spring and the fall in the national ewe flock due to increased forestry, carbon capture and rewilding schemes.

“The lamb trade has been hovering around the £3 per live kg mark for the past week or so, which is 35p per kg above this time last year and a record high for the final quarter but how much dearer it will go all depends on the numbers available,” he said.

“When food get scarce, prices increase, but how much dearer they will go all depends on how much has been bought in from further afield,” concluded Mr Hamilton.

Deadweight lamb prices have also firmed significantly with the latest figures showing values up a massive 23.4p on the week at 648.6p and for an extra 2.4% slaughtered.