The number of hoggets appearing in many mart sales is now down to a negligible level.

Agents remain anxious for whatever is appearing.

Quality is also very variable, leading to a significant differential in price.

Good-quality hoggets weighing upwards of 50kg to 55kg are still capable of selling from €160 to €170, with isolated lots of top-quality ewe hoggets securing a premium of a few euro extra to ward off interest from factory agents.

Lamb numbers are increasing, with some mart managers commenting that they are handling more lambs that would normally go direct to the factory due to some factories quoting prices below the going rate and producers opting to sell live.

Variable prices

Prices are variable, depending on location and presence of butcher buyers.

A significant number of heavier lambs weighing from 48kg to 52kg upwards are trading from €160 to €165, with top prices rising to €170 for superior-quality lots and higher in cases where butchers are underpinning the trade.

The differential between prices paid for heavier lambs and lighter lots capable of killing at maximum weights in factories has narrowed.

Good-quality lambs weighing 45kg to 47kg are trading from €157 to €162, with the top lots a couple of euro higher.

Plainer-quality lambs or those lacking flesh are selling back to the low- to mid-€150s and joined by lambs weighing 43kg to 44kg.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade is firm, with live export interest or niche market demand present for heavier ewes that will deliver a high-quality carcase.

Ewes weighing from 90kg to 100kg are trading in the main from €160 to €190/head, but select lots of top-quality ewes are breaching the €200 mark and rising on occasion to €220/head and higher.

Medium-weight ewes around the 80kg mark are averaging from €130 to €150, with ewes lacking flesh €10 to €15 lower and, likewise, small numbers of top-quality ewes €10/head higher.

The trade for light-carcase ewes is unchanged, with Scottish Blackface ewes appearing in small numbers and trading from €1/kg to €1.30/kg.