An entry of in excess of 560 lambs in Tuam Mart’s weekly sheep sale on Tuesday evening met a lively trade, with well-fleshed lambs particularly in demand.

Mart manager Marian Devane reported that tight supplies of heavier fleshed lambs generated additional competition.

There were just a handful of batches weighing upwards of 50kg, with prices ranging from €148 to a top of €157.

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There was an absence of lambs in the 47kg to 48kg weight bracket, with the majority of factory-purchased sheep weighing 43kg to 46kg.

Fleshed lambs weighing 44kg to 46kg sold in the main from €138 to €145, with a batch of top-quality lambs weighing 46.2kg selling for €148.

Differential

There was a large differential in prices depending on flesh cover, with lambs weighing 43kg to 44kg and short on flesh selling back to the low-€120s.

Likewise, lambs weighing 42kg sold from €115 all the way to €135.

The main demand for fleshed ewe lambs came from factory agents, with farmers operating a dry hogget enterprise only slowly starting to enter the market.

Store lambs met a relatively steady trade, with good life in the trade despite recent heavy pressure on finished lamb prices.

Lambs weighing 38kg to 40kg sold on average from €100 to €115, with a couple of pens rising to upwards of €120.

Lighter lambs weighing from 33kg to 36kg sold from €88 to €94 or €2.70/kg to €2.88/kg, with lesser-quality lambs selling back to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg.

A few pens of lighter and plainer-quality lambs weighing 29kg to 31kg sold from €2.40/kg to €2.80/kg.

There was strong online interest in an entry of 250 cull ewes and this inserted strong bite into the trade.

Fleshed ewes weighing 86kg to 96kg sold from €174 to €190, while several lots weighing 80kg to 86kg sold from €148 to €166.

Lighter ewes weighing 70kg to 77kg sold from €114 to €130, depending on flesh cover, with lots weighing from 62kg to 66kg selling from €84 to €96 on average.

The trade for a small entry of breeding sheep was stickier. A couple of lots of hoggets sold from €200 to €214, while second- and third-crop ewes sold from €160 to €184, with a few lots going home unsold.

In pictures

This large batch of 38 Suffolk- and- Charollais-cross store lambs weighing 40kg sold for €122.50.

This batch of nice-quality Belclare-cross ewe lambs weighing 46kg sold for €142 each.

This pen of Suffolk-cross lambs weighing 45kg sold for €136 each.

This batch of fleshed cull ewes weighing 86kg sold for €184 each.

This Texel ram weighing 112kg sold for €212.

This batch of mainly Suffolk ewes weighing 80.2kg were bid to €148 but not sold.

These Texel-bred ewe hoggets attracted keen attention and sold for €214 each.

This batch of good-quality second crop ewes sold for €184 each.

Weighing an average of 45.5kg these 20 Hampshire Down-cross lambs sold for €135 each.

This batch of 17 Suffolk- and- Charolais-Cross lambs weighing 44.5kg sold for €141.

These nice-quality Texel-cross ewe lambs weighing 44.5kg sold for €138 each.

This pen of well-fleshed Texel-cross lambs weighing 50kg sold for €149 each.

This large batch of 38 Suffolk- and- Charollais-cross store lambs weighing 40kg sold for €122.50.