Reports on the hogget trade are much more variable from mart managers this week.

Some marts are reporting a relatively steady trade where numbers on offer are tight, but others are reporting an easier trade, with factory agents moving to try to take some heat out of the mart trade.

This has left some marts reporting prices easier to the tune of €2 to €5 per head, while others which recorded a booming trade last week are back by as much as €5 to €8 or even higher.

This leaves last week’s sale prices of €150-plus achieved much more seldom.

The general run of prices for hoggets weighing 50kg upwards ranges on average from €140 to €147, with select lots of excellent-quality lots pushing in isolated cases to €150.

Store hoggets weighing 39kg to 41kg range from €95 to €100 upwards for hill-type lambs possessing good flesh to €112 to €115 for tight-woolled lots

Hoggets weighing 48kg to 49kg are trading anywhere from €130 to €142, with some managers also reporting a significant variation in the flesh cover of sheep of similar weight. Likewise, hoggets weighing 44kg to 46kg range anywhere from in the region of €120 to in excess of €130.

Store hoggets weighing 39kg to 41kg range from €95 to €100 upwards for hill-type lambs possessing good flesh to €112 to €115 for tight-woolled lots.

Light Scottish Blackface rams or wethers weighing 24kg to 30kg were also easier in places, selling from €2.05/kg to €2.30/kg, while heavier lots range on average from €2.25/kg to €2.60/kg for well-grown types capable of carrying weight.

Cull ewe trade

The cull ewe trade is steady. Medium-sized fleshed lowland ewes continue to trade in the region of €90 to €110, with heavier carcase ewes killing up to 40kg and over ranging from €115 to €125 on average and as high as €130 to €140 for small numbers of large-framed ewes with good kill-out potential.

Fleshed Scottish Blackface ewes weighing 45kg to 55kg range from €5 to €10 over the weight, with heavier lots selling to €15 on average over the weight.

Ewes with lambs at foot are appearing in small numbers, with third-crop to full-mouth ewes with strong twin lambs at foot averaging €255 to €280 and hitting €300 in places.

Single lamb lots range from €180 to €215 on average.