Macroom Mart held its first ever sheep fatstock show and sale on Wednesday last and saw 1,154 sheep go through the mart.
A full clearance showed the demand that was there and while it was solid throughout, there was a premium for butcher lambs, as they generally sold for over €3.50/kg.
The champions of the sale were a mixed group of ewe and wether butcher lambs that weighed 57.8kg and sold for €228 (€4/kg).
Most factory lambs were trading for between €3.20/kg and €3.40/kg with a share of lambs exceeding this rate.
Heavier hill lambs came into similar money. Some choice lots of ewe lambs sold for well above this price range.
There was also a number of in-lamb ewes that are due to lamb before Christmas. Aged two to four years of age, they made from €250 to €300.
The sheep fatstock was a new venture for the mart and it bridged a gap for one of the judges.
Following the sale, manager Jerh O’Sullivan said: “It was our first attempt at a sheep fatstock and we were happy with the turnout and credit must go to the farmers, sponsors and judges.
“We had Cathal Nolan from Nolans Butchers in Cork city and Criostoir O’Crualaoi from Feoil O’Criostoir Teoranta in Ballincollig and Criostoir’s father judged a cattle fatstock here 64 years ago, so it was nice for him to bridge that gap.
“We had 41 different buyers from seven counties – that was a phenomenal number of buyers. A few years ago, we didn’t have that type of support.
“We had more butcher lambs present because of the fatstock.
“While trade was brisk overall, the fact the selection of them was bigger compared to what we normally have, we had a very lively trade for them.
“That helped create a very lively sale overall and a rising tide lifts all boats so that filtered back to the factory lamb and store trade too.
“It’s the biggest sheep sale here ever for November and a few years ago, we would hardly have been having sheep sales in November at all.
“We were a bit concerned as there was a large percentage of our customers went into organic, but we’re up on numbers overall and it’s great to see, especially as sheep numbers nationally are declining, so it’s great to see us do well and have numbers increasing.
“Last year, we were delighted when we broke the 30,000 sheep mark before eventually selling 35,000.
“We’re only a small bit short of that figure now, so it’s great to see the bit of confidence that’s in the sheep trade in the area and Denis Kelleher, our yard manager, plays a big role in that.”
