The announcement comes after the NFU revealed farmers were losing an average of £29 per lamb sold at market with farmgate prices dropping by over a fifth in the last year.
Sainsbury’s decision means 800 farmers who supply the Sainsbury’s own and Taste the Difference range will receive £3.80/kg for lamb, in a move that will ease the burden on some hard-pressed farmers struggling with the collapse in lamb price.
NFU livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe said: “It’s positive that Sainsbury’s has listened to its farmer suppliers and although it only involves limited numbers and is for a limited time period, it lays down the challenge to other major retailers to ensure their lamb suppliers also receive a fair price.
“The NFU will be looking closely at the procurement activities of all major retailers in the coming days. The consumer showed last summer on milk that they will not accept retailers paying farmers below the costs of production for food. Sainsbury’s has recognised that sheep farmers cannot run businesses on current prices. It’s clearly time for the whole trade to now show they are committed to a sustainable UK lamb industry.”