The lift in factory hogget prices witnessed this week is filtering through to live sales, with prices rising anywhere from €2 to €4/head on average.

Reports indicate that numbers are significantly tighter and any hopes agents had of keeping a lid on prices are quickly unravelling, with buyers keen to get their hands on a higher percentage of the sale offering.

Fleshed hoggets weighing upwards of 50kg are selling on average from €102 plus the weight for heavier lots to €107 to €110 over the weight for lighter lots.

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There is a wider differential opening up between top-quality and lesser-quality lots, with factories becoming much more selective and imposing cuts of upwards of €2/kg for lots lacking flesh.

This is witnessing lesser interest for poorly batched hoggets or those lacking significant flesh cover.

Spring lamb trade

Reports on the spring lamb trade are variable. Some plants which witnessed a strong trade last week report prices holding largely steady, while others which recorded a mixed trade are reporting prices strengthening by anywhere from €3 to €8/head.

The general run of prices for well-fleshed good-quality lambs weighing 48kg to 50kg upwards is €115 to €120 with the weight, with select lots of heavy top-quality lots rising to €180 to €200/head.

Lighter lambs weighing from 43kg to 46kg are trading from €155 to €168 on average, while lighter lots weighing back to 39kg to 40kg are selling from €135 to €150, with kill-out potential having a big influence on price.

The ewe trade is robust, with heavy-carcase ewes continuing to be a better trade in many cases when sold live.

Ewes weighing 85kg to 94kg are trading from €150 to €180 on average, with heavier lots selling to €200 and hitting €210 to €220 in isolated cases.

The trade for lighter ewes has also improved, with fleshed good-quality ewes weighing around the 75kg mark selling from €120 to €145.

Scottish Blackface and light crossbred ewes continue to sell in the main from €0.90/kg to €1.30/kg.