Mountbellew Mart in Co Galway resumed trading on Saturday following a two-week absence enforced by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA).

There was a positive entry of between 450 and 500 sheep on offer. This included a significant number of well-fleshed and heavier hoggets, with some sellers opting to delay moving hoggets while sales were cancelled.

The trade was relatively lively, taking in to account the current pressure on prices from falling factory quotes.

Hoggets weighing from 50kg to 56kg sold in the main from €140 to €144/head, with a handful of superior-quality lots rising to €147/head. Lots lacking flesh sold back to the mid-€130s, but numbers here were small.

Flesh cover

Prices paid for hoggets weighing 46kg to 48kg were strongly influenced by flesh cover and kill-out potential. The general run of prices here ranged from €124 to €134/head.

It was a similar situation for store lambs in the 38kg to 41kg weight range. Mixed-quality types and lots lacking flesh sold from €95 to €105 on average, with better-quality types and ewe lambs with breeding potential rising to €120/head.

Cull ewes

The cull ewe trade was brisk, with a particularly lively trade for top-quality and heavy cull ewes.

Large-framed ewes weighing from 85kg to 100kg sold from €145 to €170, with a pen of well-bred Texel ewes weighing 88kg selling to a top of €180/head.

Lighter ewes weighing around the 70kg to 75kg mark sold from €80 to €100 for lots lacking flesh to €110 for the best-quality types.

Factory trade

The factory trade remains disappointing, with base quotes falling below the €6/kg mark in many plants.

Quality assured hoggets are trading from €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg from sellers with lower negotiating power, with hoggets traded through groups or from sellers with greater selling power rising to €6.20/kg.

The latest reduction in base quotes sees prices now running 70c/kg to 80c/kg behind the corresponding period in 2022. This equates to €16 to €18 lower on a 23kg carcase.

In pictures

Weighing an average of 55kg, these Charollais-cross ewe hoggets sold for €145 each.

These five good-quality Texel-cross ewe hoggets weighing 60.1kg sold for €146 each.

These well-fleshed hoggets, all clean and weighing 50kg sold for €141 each.

These wether lambs averaging 47.5kg sold for €127 each.

Weighing 41kg on average, these sharp-headed ewe hoggets sold for €125 each.

This pen of 10 wether hoggets weighing 56.8kg sold for €143.

This batch of 10 large-framed wether lambs weighing 57.5kg sold for €141.

This batch of five well-fleshed cull ewes weighing 91kg sold for €174 each.