LAMB PRICES AT SMITHFIELD

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29145, 4 March 1960, Page 17

LAMB PRICES AT SMITHFIELD

Second Grade Brings More Than Top

Second quality lamb last week fetched as much as 2d per lb more than prime lamb at Smithfield Market. First quality Canterbury lamb carcases of 291 b to 361 b the average size sold at an average price of 23Jd to 25d per lb last week, according to the Imported Meat Trade Association price committee. The committee quotations are cabled weekly to New Zealand. Second quality lamb of the same weight sold at 25Jd to 26d.

Lighter carcases (281 b and under), whether prime or second quality, sold at 27d per lb. Trade sources questioned about the premium fbr “seconds” yesterday said it was caused by the preference of a large section of British housewives for lean meat. Last year, when a large proportion of the South Island kill was graded as seconds, this lean meat found a ready market among the thrifty housewives north of London at cheap prices. “Seconds” are exported and described in the London trade as “Y’s.” Having built up a trade in “Y’s” last year, apparently many butchers in the Midlands and the North continue to demand this type of carcase this year. Fewer Seconds There are not so many seconds available this year as last year, when drought conditions forced many farmers to send their lambs to the freezing works before they were fat. The Islington works, for instance, has a proportion of seconds to date this season less than half the proportion recorded last season.

While there are fewer “Y’s” available at Smithfield, a section of the buyers there each week continues to seek a high proportion of this class of meat in their purchases. “The result is inevitable according to the law of supply and demand,” said an exporter: “the price must rise.” He held out no hope of farmers receiving premium for their second quality stock to match the Smithfield premium.