With in-lamb ewes starting to appear in sales in greater numbers, Monday’s clearance sale of 400 ewes in Ballymena Mart provided an excellent chance to get a snapshot of the trade.

A packed ringside and top-quality ewes on offer led to a lively sale, with prices ranging from £160 (€202) to a top of £202 (€256) for a pen of good-quality Suffolk cross hoggets carrying twin lambs.

The ewes on offer comprised two- and three-year-old Suffolk, Suffolk cross and Texel ewes, with a few pens of Charollais cross ewes and one pen of black ewes.

The ewes were showing the benefits of a favourable year with ewes presented in very good condition and favourable litter size.

Scanning rates for the majority of ewes showed twins, with the number of triplets going close to balancing out single-bearing ewes. Most pens were grouped to average or go very close to averaging two lambs per ewe.

Breeding season

The Texel or whiter-faced ewes were run with a Suffolk ram, while Suffolk ewes were run with a Texel ram. The breeding season started on 16 August, with rams pulled from ewes on 20 November, meaning ewes were 50 to 95 days in-lamb, although most ewes were estimated as being mated at the start of the breeding season.

About 20 pens of Suffolk ewes sold in the main from £170 (€215) to £188 (€238) with a couple of pens selling back to £165 (€209) and the top pen of ewes selling to £202 per ewe (€256).

Ten pens of Texel ewes sold from £162 (€205) to £182 (€230), with the top pen rising to £190 (€240). Five pens of Charollais cross ewes sold from £175 (€221.50) to £190 (€240).

A Ballymena Mart spokesman commented that demand for in-lamb ewes has been helped by higher lamb prices as the year draws to a close, lifting confidence, and leading to a continuation of the strong breeding sales that took place throughout the autumn. He said Monday’s sale was helped by the condition and age of ewes and the favourable litter size.