Lamb Prices Plummeting at the End of the Year

Washington State University is reporting that choice slaughter lamb prices were $127.33 per hundredweight in November, which was down 17 cents from October.

That is well below the high watermark for the year, something Extension officials say is likely driven by continued large cold storage inventories and lower prices for competing meats.

Production is also forecasted to be down, expected to be around 36 million pounds for the 4^th quarter of 2017 which is down two percent from last year.

With lower domestic production, lamb and mutton imports are forecasted to be 16 percent above last year’s totals and at record highs for 2018.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.