There was a large crowd in attendance at the Cooley sheep breeders store lamb and cull ewe sale that was held in Carnaross Mart.

There was 1,000 store lambs and 200 cull ewes on offer, all of which came from the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth.

Lighter store lambs weighing from 20kg to 30kg were highly sought after by both online and ringside buyers.

Many of these lots sold for over €5/kg, with a top price of €5.83/kg being paid for a pen of lambs. An average price per kg of €4.84 was achieved for lambs weighing from 20kg to 30kg.

Stronger lambs weighing from 30kg to 40kg were also in strong demand. They reached a top price per kg of €4.72. The priced remained very consistent for these lambs and an average of €4.22/kg was achieved.

Cull ewes

The cull ewe entry was a lot smaller than the store lamb entry, but prices remained strong. Lighter cull ewes that had mostly been drafted from the hill sold to an average price per kg of €1.83, while the heavier cull ewes sold to an average per kg of €2.18.

The committee commented: “It was another very successful sale for the group. It was great to see so many returning customers and we hope to see them all back again at our breeding sale in September.”