Last Thursday’s sheep sale in Loughrea Mart, Co Galway, coincided with a significant reduction in factory quotes.

This created an air of uncertainty prior to the sale starting, but mart manager Jimmy Cooney said that once the sale got under way, it was clear that factory agents were anxious for lambs.

Lambs weighing upwards of 47kg averaged about €100 over the weight.

The top price of €158 was paid for a batch of good-quality Charollais-cross lambs weighing 56kg, but it was lighter lambs that achieved the highest price over the weight or per kilo.

These six Charollais lambs weighing 40kg sold for €134 (€3.35/kg).

A number of batches of top-quality and well-fleshed lambs weighing 47kg to 48kg sold up to €106 over the weight or from €3.20/kg to €3.26/kg.

Prices paid for store lambs were strongly influenced by quality and flesh cover. Lambs weighing 37kg to 40kg sold on average from €2.75/kg to €2.95/kg, with the best-quality lots and ewe lambs selling to €3.10/kg and higher on a couple of occasions.

This batch of seven Charollais-cross lambs weighing 56kg sold for €158 (€2.82/kg).

The trade for cull ewes was solid, with heavy fleshed lots sought after. A number of lots of heavy ewes weighing from 85kg to 95kg sold from €150 to a top call of €163. Medium-weight fleshed ewes ranging from 75kg to 80kg sold from €115 to €135.

Other lots

These four Charollais-cross lambs weighing 55.5kg sold for €154 (€2.77/kg).

These 15 Charollais-cross lambs averaging 47kg sold for €144 (€3.06/kg).

These Charollais store lambs weighing 43.5kg sold for €120 (€2.76/kg).

These fleshed Suffolk ewes weighing 93kg sold for €161 (€1.73/kg).

This batch of eight well-fleshed Suffolk ewes weighing 89.5kg sold for €160 (€1.79/kg).

This batch of top-quality Charollais-cross lambs weighing 47kg sold for €153 (€3.26/kg).

This batch of 12 top-quality Charollais-cross lambs weighing 46.7kg sold for €152 (€3.26/kg).

Weighing 44.5kg, these fleshed Charollais- and Suffolk-cross lambs sold for €137 (€3.08/kg).

These five crossbred store lambs weighing 37kg sold for €119 (€3.22/kg).

This batch of 10 Charollais-cross lambs weighing 50.8kg sold for €150 (€2.95/kg).

These four Charollais-cross lamb with an average cover of flesh and weighing 48.7kg sold for €140 (€2.87/kg).