AS expected, the sheep trade has slipped over the past week, as numbers swell and demand returns back to normal following Ramadan.

However, while the live market has dropped by more than 10p per kg, the SQQ at 225.5p per kg, for the week ended June 21, remains some 37p plus higher than during the same week in 2016.

Figures from the early markets of this week also highlight the reduced demand with lamb prices in Scotland slipping marginally on the week to level at 228p on Monday for an additional 6% sold.

It was a similar story south of the Border too where values fell 4.0p per live kg on the week to average 219p for an extra 7.2% forward.

Trade slipped further on Tuesday too, with an extra 19% selling in England and Wales to average 215.2p, which is down almost 12p on the week, while in Scotland values dropped 10.5p to level at almost 220p, again with an additional 19% forward.

Prices were down at Lawrie and Symington's Forfar sale and Craig Wilson's sheep event at Newton Stewart, on Wednesday, falling 8.1p to average 220.5p and 219p, respectively.

The ewe market has also suffered with prices down roughly back £10 per head on Tuesday at £61.50.

The good news is, total spring lambs and hoggs coming through GB auction marts are down on the year with the result that processors are seeking heavy lambs as more producers are marketing their light lambs whilst prices hold up.

As it is, more old season lambs have been sold this year compared to last, and they have been heavier. Between January and the end of May 2017, the number of finished lambs sold at auction rose by 2.5% due to the increased number of lambs held over from last year.

Meanwhile, the number of new season lambs sold liveweight at auction during the same time was around 250,000, which is 11% lower in the first five months of the year compared to a year ago. The proportion of these new season lambs that were classified in weight bands heavier than the SQQ (above 45.5kg) has also fallen, from 12% last year to 5% this year.

Old season lambs, on the other hand, tell a different story. The number of those sold in the first five months of the year showed a 4.4% increase year on year, and the number of them being classified as heavier than the SQQ rose by 12% year on year.

According to a report from AHDB, pasture conditions through the year June 2016 to May 2017 led to lambs finishing more slowly than the year before, producing fewer heavy lambs at the beginning of the season, and a higher share amongst those carried over as old season lambs into 2017.

Meanwhile, a smaller proportion of new season lambs fell outside SQQ weight band at the beginning of the year, than the year before.

This phenomenon is largely explained by lower numbers of heavy lambs being around in those months compared with the previous year; with approximately a third fewer lambs overall being classed as heavier than the liveweight SQQ in the period June to September.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a greater number of heavier lambs started to appear later in the season, after Christmas as old season lambs. So although the total number of lambs finished throughout the year 2016/17 was higher than the year before, and the monthly profile of their delivery was quite similar, the weight bands in which they were classified showed much more variation.