Roscrea Mart, Co Tipperary, held a special breeding show and sale for ewe hoggets and ewe lambs on Wednesday.
The sale took place as part of the general weekly sheep sale and boosted numbers on offer to in the region of 1,600 head.
Central Auctions manager Michael Harty said there was demand for all classes of hoggets and commented that it was heartening to see strong interest from local producers, with the majority of hoggets remaining in the mart hinterland.
Best demand
The best demand was for nice-quality Suffolk-bred hoggets, with Suffolk-bred hoggets claiming first and second prizes in the show.
Over one third of hoggets exceeded the €200/head mark and averaged €215/head, with a top call of €250 for the second-placed pen.
Another third of the lots sold from €170 to €195, with a small number of lighter and plainer-quality types selling from €135 to €165.
Solid ewe lamb trade
The ewe lamb trade was solid, with a good percentage of those on offer weighing in the region of 44kg to 48kg and trading from €130 to €140, with a handful of heavier and excellent-quality lots selling to €150.
Lighter lots weighing around the 40kg mark sold from €118 to €125, with quality again strongly influencing prices paid.
The trade in the general sheep sale for slaughter-fit and store lambs was brisk.
A number of butcher and wholesale buyers fought it out for tight supplies of heavier fleshed lambs, with prices for lambs weighing 50kg to 55kg ranging on average from €135 to €145 and hitting a high of €150 for top-quality 52kg lambs.
Quality has a major influence on prices paid in a lively store lamb trade.
For example, store lambs weighing 36kg to 38kg ranged from €97 all the way to €115, with a few lots of nice-quality lowland lambs weighing in the region of 34kg to 35kg hitting the €100 mark.
These crossbred ewe lambs weighing 44kg were the first-prizewinners and sold for €136 each.
These crossbred ewe lambs weighing 46kg sold for €130 each.
These two Texel-cross lambs weighing 47kg sold at €141 each (€3/kg).
This batch of 12 Suffolk hoggets sold for €195 each.
This batch of 10 brown-headed hoggets sold for €210 each.
This batch of 10 Suffolk-Cheviot-cross hoggets sold for €180 each.
These 10 Suffolk-Cheviot-cross hoggets sold for €185 each.
This batch of 10 mixed-breed hoggets sold for €185 each.
These Suffolk-cross hoggets were first-prizewinners and sold for €230 each.
These 10 Suffolk-cross hoggets were awarded second prize in the show and sold for €250 each.
These six fleshed Texel-cross lambs weighing 52kg sold for €146 each (2.80/kg).
These six Charollais-cross lambs weighing 48kg sold for €137 per head.
Roscrea Mart, Co Tipperary, held a special breeding show and sale for ewe hoggets and ewe lambs on Wednesday.
The sale took place as part of the general weekly sheep sale and boosted numbers on offer to in the region of 1,600 head.
Central Auctions manager Michael Harty said there was demand for all classes of hoggets and commented that it was heartening to see strong interest from local producers, with the majority of hoggets remaining in the mart hinterland.
Best demand
The best demand was for nice-quality Suffolk-bred hoggets, with Suffolk-bred hoggets claiming first and second prizes in the show.
Over one third of hoggets exceeded the €200/head mark and averaged €215/head, with a top call of €250 for the second-placed pen.
Another third of the lots sold from €170 to €195, with a small number of lighter and plainer-quality types selling from €135 to €165.
Solid ewe lamb trade
The ewe lamb trade was solid, with a good percentage of those on offer weighing in the region of 44kg to 48kg and trading from €130 to €140, with a handful of heavier and excellent-quality lots selling to €150.
Lighter lots weighing around the 40kg mark sold from €118 to €125, with quality again strongly influencing prices paid.
The trade in the general sheep sale for slaughter-fit and store lambs was brisk.
A number of butcher and wholesale buyers fought it out for tight supplies of heavier fleshed lambs, with prices for lambs weighing 50kg to 55kg ranging on average from €135 to €145 and hitting a high of €150 for top-quality 52kg lambs.
Quality has a major influence on prices paid in a lively store lamb trade.
For example, store lambs weighing 36kg to 38kg ranged from €97 all the way to €115, with a few lots of nice-quality lowland lambs weighing in the region of 34kg to 35kg hitting the €100 mark.
These crossbred ewe lambs weighing 44kg were the first-prizewinners and sold for €136 each.
These crossbred ewe lambs weighing 46kg sold for €130 each.
These two Texel-cross lambs weighing 47kg sold at €141 each (€3/kg).
This batch of 12 Suffolk hoggets sold for €195 each.
This batch of 10 brown-headed hoggets sold for €210 each.
This batch of 10 Suffolk-Cheviot-cross hoggets sold for €180 each.
These 10 Suffolk-Cheviot-cross hoggets sold for €185 each.
This batch of 10 mixed-breed hoggets sold for €185 each.
These Suffolk-cross hoggets were first-prizewinners and sold for €230 each.
These 10 Suffolk-cross hoggets were awarded second prize in the show and sold for €250 each.
These six fleshed Texel-cross lambs weighing 52kg sold for €146 each (2.80/kg).
These six Charollais-cross lambs weighing 48kg sold for €137 per head.
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