UK sheep meat production has fallen by nearly 8% so far this year while imports from Australia have started to creep up, new analysis shows.
Domestic sheep meat production has fallen considerably from 2023, currently sitting nearly 8% lower January-September, according to AHDB.
Production has totalled 193,000 tonnes so far this year, with volumes for September at 21,900 tonnes.
AHDB said a significant decline in both adult and clean sheep kill has contributed to this decline in overall production, with minor shifts in carcase weight in the year so far.
Clean sheep kill has totalled 8.19m head so far in 2024, a fall of nearly 700,000 head (7.9%) from the same period in 2023.
"So far this year we have not seen a month exceed 1m head slaughtered, highlighting the tightness of supply compared to prior years," explained Izzy Shohet, AHDB analyst.
In the year to date to August, imports of fresh and frozen sheep meat have totalled 47,200 tonnes, a growth of 14,200 tonnes from the same time in 2023.
Monthly imports have been considerably higher than last year, between 1,000-2,600 tonnes higher per month, according to the levy board's analysis.
Looking into volumes imported from Australia and NZ, the UK imported 3,700 tonnes of fresh and frozen product from NZ and just under 2,000 tonnes from Australia in August.
This represented a fall of 900 tonnes from New Zealand compared to the previous month, but growth of 1,000 tonnes from 2023.
Conversely, Australian volumes have grown by around 300 tonnes from July, and over doubled compared to August 2023.
Ms Shohet explained: "Both countries were suffering from a downturn in slaughter levels in August as their old season crop tails off and the new season crop is slow to come forward."
AHDB's figures show that UK exports have reduced so far this year as domestic production has fallen, limiting volumes available for export, sitting 7% lower than 2023.
