A large entry of just under 1,000 sheep was presented in Milford Mart on Monday evening for the fortnightly sheep sale.

The large entry of sheep was met with a large crowd of buyers, leading to a roaring trade from start to finish.

There was a strong entry of quality spring lambs on offer and butchers were out in force, leading to prices of €255 to €280 being paid for lambs weighing over 50kg.

Lambs weighing from 40kg to 50kg were also in high demand and they sold from €180 to €256.

There was a slightly smaller number of hoggets on offer than previous weeks, but prices remained strong, driven by ringside buyers.

Heavy hoggets

Heavy hoggets weighing over 50kg were the most highly sought after and they sold from €195 to a high of €218.

Hoggets weighing from 40kg to 50kg sold from €160 to €202, while those weighing from 30kg to 40kg sold from €118 to €140.

There was a very small number of hoggets weighing under 30kg, but they sold well from €75 to €128.

Cull ewes

The majority of the sale entry was made up of well-fleshed quality cull ewes.

These quality heavy ewes were highly sought after by ringside bidders and it led to prices from €190 to €380 being paid out.

The top price per kilo on the night for a cull ewe was €4.22/kg and the majority sold from €2.80/kg to €4.12/kg.

Heavy cull rams were also in high demand, with a top price of €315 being paid out for a 124kg Chartex ram. The rest of the cull ram consignment sold from €200 to €270.

There was also a large entry of ewes and lambs on offer, but quality was mixed, leading to more varied prices. Ewes with singles sold from €200 to €460 and ewes with twins sold from €220 to €375.