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The store lamb trade has been hit in recent weeks by a combination of falling factory prices and inclement weather making grazing much more challenging.
This was also apparent in last Saturday’s sheep sale in Mountbellew Mart. There was a good entry of sheep, bearing in mind storm Brian weather warnings for the previous few days and heavy rainfall from midday on Friday.
The 60 pens of lambs entered were mainly store and ewe lambs, with a smaller number of slaughter-fit lambs on offer.
These mixed-quality Belclare ewe lambs weighing 38kg on average but lacking flesh sold for €70 (€1.84/kg).
These top-quality Suffolk ewe lambs, weighing 48.8kg on average, sold for €110 each (€2.25/kg).
These 41kg Charollais-cross wether and ewe lambs sold for €79 (€1.93/kg).
This pen of 10 Charollais-cross ram lambs with a good cover of flesh and weighing 47kg were bid to €87 but not sold.
Good-quality short-keep store lambs sold on average from €1.90/kg to €2.00/kg for lowland lots weighing 38kg to 43kg, with a small number of crossbred lambs falling back to €1.85/kg. Lighter good-quality lambs weighing 35kg to 38kg sold from €74 to €78 on average.
Ewe lambs with breeding potential were a brighter trade and attracted a price premium ranging anywhere from €5 to €15 over equivalent-weight stores or factory-fit stock.
This is reflected in the photos, with the 48.8kg Suffolk ewe lambs pictured fetching the joint-top price of €110.
A number of other pens sold from €104 to €110, while lighter ewe lambs also followed a similar trend, with nice-quality 45kg ewe lambs selling to a top of €100 for this weight category of lambs.
These 12 Charollais-cross lambs weighing 43kg sold for €84 (€1.95/kg).
These 10 Suffolk ram lambs weighing 37kg on average sold for €75 (€2.03/kg).
These 42.2kg mixed wether and ewe lambs were bid to €82 (€1.94/kg) but were not sold.
These eight Texel-cross wethers weighing 36.5kg sold for €72 (€1.97/kg).
The trade for slaughter-fit lambs was steady, with a top price of €100 paid on a couple of occasions for heavy lambs weighing 53kg upwards. Lighter lambs weighing 47kg to 50kg with a good cover of flesh sold from €90 to €95.
Cull ewews
The cull ewe trade started slowly, with buyers balancing prices paid to factory quotes. Lighter and smaller ewes with a good cover of flesh sold from €60 to €75, with larger-framed ewes rising on average to €85.
A small number of heavy, very large-framed ewes sold to €90 to €95, with the top price of €100 paid for a large-framed fat Suffolk ewe. Light ewes with a very poor cover of flesh sold from €20 to €30.
These three black ewe lambs weighing 43kg on average sold for €104 each (€2.42/kg).
These four Charollais-cross ewe lambs weighing 49.1kg sold for €105 each (€2.14/kg).
These Texel-cross ewe lambs weighing 50.4kg on average sold for €104 each (€2.06/kg).
These pen of light mixed-breed wether lambs weighing 36.5kg sold for €76 (€2.08/kg).
These Suffolk crossbred wether lambs weighing 46kg sold for €80 (€1.74/kg)
These four Charollais-cross ewe lambs in super condition and weighing 56.1kg sold for €105 each (1.87/kg).
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