On Thursday, Drumshanbo held its show and sale of lambs, with a large entry across all types.

While prices for heavier lambs were eased slightly, nice breeding ewe lambs commanded a premium, while the trade for store ram lambs remained steady.

“The quality ewe lambs with a sharp head and nice markings was sought after, mostly by farmers to graze on until next year's breeding sales," said mart manager Eoin Keane.

"The tops of the lambs sold over €200/head. These weighed up around the 50kg mark.

"There was a steady trade from €150/head upwards for ewe lambs weighing around the 40kg mark,” he added.

“There was a great trade for light ewe lambs around the 30kg mark. These sold from €4/kg to €5/kg for the quality lots, with a number of buyers seeking these for grazing until next year,” Eoin said.

Store lambs

The bulk of store lambs sold from €80/head upwards, with better-quality lambs selling from €3.50/kg up to €4/kg, while more horned types and lambs weighing 25kg and below sold from €3/kg to €3.20/kg.

Top cull ewes sold above €200/head, but these weighed over the 100kg mark.

Typical store-type cull ewes sold from €1.80/kg up to €2.30/kg, with age and flesh cover the biggest factors.

The show and sale for hoggets takes place on 10 September.

In pictures

This pen of 39 ram lambs weighed 38kg and sold for €121/head (€3.18/kg).

This pen of 26 ram lambs weighed 47kg and sold for €141/head (€3.00/kg).

This pen of six cull ewes weighed 82kg and sold for €188/head (€2.29/kg).

This pen of 11 ewe lambs weighed 33kg and sold for €136/head (€4.12/kg).

This pen of 11 ewe lambs weighed 35kg and sold for €148/head (€4.22/kg).

These pair of cull ewes weighed 68kg and sold for €124/head (€1.82/kg).

This pen of five ewe lambs weighed 31kg and sold for €106/head (€3.42/kg).