Last Saturday’s sheep sale in Baltinglass Mart, Co Wicklow, was steady on previous weeks’ trade, with keen demand exhibited for store lambs and some fancy prices paid for lighter ewe lambs.

Store lambs weighing from 40kg to 44kg sold in the main from €3.40/kg for hill crosses to €3.75/kg for better-quality lots and up to €3.95/kg for ewe lambs.

Lighter lambs weighing from 35kg to 39kg achieved a higher price per kilo ranging from €3.70/kg to €3.90/kg, with a few lots of nice-quality ewe lambs exceeding €4/kg and selling to a top of €4.69/kg.

It was a similar story for lambs weighing from 30kg to 34kg, with a few lots of quality Scottish Blackface ewe lambs topping €4/kg.

Price paid for lambs weighing from 24kg to 28kg were heavily influenced by quality.

Lower weights

At the lower end of the weight range, prices averaged from €3.52/kg to €3.90/kg. There were some slightly heavier ewe lambs which sold from €4.20/kg to €5/kg.

A few pens of slaughter-fit lambs weighing from 50kg to 54kg sold from €170 to €174 per head, with lambs weighing 46kg to 47kg selling from €157 to €162 with lots lacking flesh back to the mid-€140s.

Cull ewes with an average to good cover of flesh sold from €1.80/kg to €2.05/kg, with some good feeding types also in this price range.

Lesser-quality lots sold from €1.65/kg to €1.80/kg, with some ewes lacking significant flesh cover and Scottish Blackface types from €1.35/kg to €1.55/kg.

Entries of breeding ewes are declining. Some medium-sized lowland hoggets sold from €250 to €300 per head, with lighter-framed lots back to €175 to €200/head.

Some well-bred second- and third-crop Cheviot ewes sold from €200 to €250, while other plainer-quality ewes sold back to €130 to €150/head.

Joe Kinsella off Baltinglass Mart said: “Demand for store lambs has been much better this year with light hill lambs especially improved. Good-quality breeding sheep are also highly sought after and this goes from ewe lambs to hoggets and aged ewes.”