Arran farmers were disappointed at auction markets this week as the price of lamb fell considerably.
Farms from across the Island sent their sheep to auction for the first time since the second outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the south of England over a month ago.
1000 sheep left the Island on Friday to go straight to auction rings in Ayr and Stirling.
As predicted the price achieved for the lambs was considerably lower than last year.
Neil Henderson from Kilpatrick said: ‘I took my lambs to Dalmally auction mart and the trade there was terrible. At the beginning of August this year we managed to get £1.10 per live kilo but this week we only managed 82p per kilo. This is a considerable drop.’
Some of the island’s farmers now face a new crisis as they attempt to dispose of light lambs that are starving on the hillside. Some lambs still have limited access to grass, but they will be in no condition to survive colder temperatures.
Importantly, on top of all this, these lambs are eating the grass that their mothers, the ewes, need to survive over the winter.
Light lambs are traditionally destined for European markets, however the export ban has closed that outlet.
Whilst there could be a limited lifting of the export ban at the end of this week, many of these lambs are now in no fit condition to be processed and, even if they could be, the backlog simply could not be processed quickly enough.
An NFUS spokesman said: ‘This is another dark day in what is turning out to be the Autumn from hell for Scotland’s livestock industry. To have reached the point where we have to dispose of lambs because they are facing starvation is just horrendous.’ On the upside farmers have welcomed news that from Wednesday October 17 Scotland will be free of all domestic movement restrictions.
