According to the American Lamb Board checkoff, retail sales of all lamb in the U.S. have increased. Retail sales between April 20th and July 12th increased 8.6% year over year. That comes out to 16.3 million pound of lamb sold, valued at $137.8 million during the 2nd quarter.

In the last four weeks of the quarter, June 15th through Uuly 12, pounds of lamb sold increased 29.8% year over year.

“The combination of consumers cooking at home, the desire for new meal options, the hard work by lamb marketers, retailers and American Lamb Board [ALB] checkoff efforts seem to be opening consumers to lamb’s possibilities, and it shows in the numbers,” said Gwen Kitzan of Newell, SD, ALB chair. 

When looking at the current 52-week period lamb pounds soled increased 6.8%, while sale dollars jumped 9.8% over the prior 52 weeks.

The increase in pounds of lamb sold and lamb dollars spent showed across the board when designated by cut. The loin continues to be the most popular cut with consumers, accounting for 24.9% of pounds of lamb sold. It is followed by the rib at 21.3%. The two cuts saw an increase in pounds of lamb sold of 13.1% and 12% respectively over the same time in 2019.

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