Last Friday’s hill sheep sale in Cahir Mart in Co Tipperary was described as a flying trade, with prices up €2 to €3 on average on the previous sale held a fortnight earlier.

Manager Jonathan O’Sullivan said the recent jump in factory prices is inserting much more confidence into the trade for stores.

These nine Scottish Blackface ewe lambs sold for €85.

Light store lambs weighing 26kg to 30kg averaged €2.40/kg.

Jonathan reports that the improved trade in recent months has also boosted optimism in the hill sheep sector, with this reflected in the demand and prices paid for nice-quality ewe lambs.

This batch of 11 Scottish Blackface store lambs weighing 28kg sold for €64.

Top prices ranged from €2.60/kg to €2.64/kg or €74 to €78 for 28kg to 30kg lambs.

Lambs weighing between 30kg and 40kg averaged in the region of €2.10/kg to €2.20/kg, with quality having a big bearing on price.

These forward Scottish Blackface ewe lambs weighing 37kg sold for €93.

Well-presented lambs with a good frame and capable of easily meeting French market weights sold from €2.30/kg to €2.40/kg, with ewe lambs again securing a price premium and selling to a top of €87 for 34kg lambs or €2.52/kg.

This batch of 12 Scottish Blackface cull ewes sold for €56.

Specialist finishers and factory agents were active for short-keep stores exceeding 40kg, with prices averaging €2.14/kg for lambs weighing 40kg to 50kg.

Top-quality lots weighing 41kg to 42kg sold to a top of €2.19/kg to €2.24/kg. A small number of lambs weighing upwards of 50kg sold from €116 to €123.

Cull ewes were a steady trade, with prices typically ranging from €45 to €55 for fleshed Scottish Blackface ewes.

This Scottish Blackface ram lamb weighing 53kg sold for €115

Scottish Blackface cull rams sold from €65 to €85, while a selection of continental-bred rams sold from €100 to €150. The final hill sheep sale for the season takes place on Friday 27 November.

Meanwhile, the trade in Tuesday’s sale of lowland sheep saw prices also increase by €2 to €4 per head for fleshed lambs.

These 20 Scottish Blackface store lambs weighing 33.5kg sold for €72.

Lambs weighing 50kg upwards sold freely from €120 to €125, with a couple of pens of excellent-quality lots rising to €129 and €130.

Lambs weighing 46kg to 49kg averaged in the region of €2.30/kg and sold from €115 to €122.

Jonathan reports there were a couple of standout prices here, with the tightness in supplies witnessing butchers and wholesalers drop down in their normal weight preference and competing for fleshed lambs.

These 15 Scottish Blackface lambs weighing 41kg on average sold for €92.

This saw a batch of 46.5kg Charollais-cross lambs hit €122, with Jonathan commenting that some buyers are worried about supplies in the run in to Christmas and starting to put numbers aside.

Other lots

These Scottish Blackface wethers weighing 55kg sold for €116.

These seven Texel-cross lambs, all clean, and weighing 34.5kg sold for €87.

This batch of 11 Scottish Blackface ewe lambs weighing 28kg sold for €74.

This batch of seven medium-sized Scottish Blackface ewes sold for €47 each.

This aged Scottish Blackface cull ram sold for €75.

This aged Texel cull ram sold for €100.

This three and a half-year-old Bluefaced Leicester ram sold for €125.

This large farmed cull Scottish Blackface ram sold for €85.

This Suffolk mature ram sold for €150.

This pen of 19 Scottish Blackface store lambs weighing 32kg sold for €71.