Camera at the mart attended the weekly sheep sale in Kilrea Mart. There was a reduced entry of sheep compared with previous weeks, with the number of fat lambs limited.

With meat plants cutting prices last week and an abundance of grass on farms at present, farmers were more reluctant to offload lambs until prices harden.

However, with several buying agents around the ringside looking to source numbers for several meat plants, the limited sale entry saw more of an edge to the overall demand and kept a firm floor in the trade.

As a result, last week’s price cuts had little in the way of an impact on the sale.

After a slow start, which saw many slaughter-fit lambs selling from £86 to £90 (€98 to €102.50), the limited sale entry saw agents becoming more competitive.

As the sale progressed, prices for factory-fit lambs rose towards the mid-£90s mark, with top-quality meal-finished lambs making over £100 (€114) on several occasions.

Mart manager Mark Stewart said more lambs are needed to meet buying demand. He added that after a slower trade last week, lambs were a much sharper trade.

The trade peaked at £108 (€123) for a pen of crossbred lambs weighing 22.5kg. This was followed by £106.50 (€121) being paid for a pen of 22kg lambs, while a pen of 24kg lambs made £105 (€120). Other noted prices saw £104.50 (€119) being paid on a couple of occasions for pens of crossbred lambs weighing 20.5kg.

At the outlined prices of £100 to £108 (€114 to €123) at the upper end of the market for slaughter-fit lambs, Monday’s sale saw the live trade running anywhere from £2 (€2) to £10 (€11.40) ahead of official factory prices at the start of the week. Plainer lambs weighing 21kg to 21.5kg made £93 to £94.50, with pens of lighter lambs weighing 20kg to 20.5kg sold from £86 to £91 (€98 to €102.50).

The trade for fat ewes was well down on previous weeks, with the quality of sheep presented heavily reflected in price. Again, there was a limited entry of cull ewes forwarded for sale, but, with fewer buyers on hand, there was a much slower demand for these animals.

Lowland ewes carrying plenty of flesh sold to a peak of £86 (€98), with similar lots selling to £83 (€94). Mule-cross ewes and plainer animals suited to feeding sold from £70 to £73 (€80 to €83).