The highlight of Thursday evening’s sheep sale at Ballinasloe Mart in Co Galway was the sale of five very large cull ewes. Weighing an average of 120kg, the Suffolk-cross ewes with some Bluefaced Leicester breeding in their background sold for €132.

Average-sized ewes with a good cover of flesh sold from €90 to €100, with large-framed ewes selling to €113. Lighter ewes that had lost lambs or were lacking flesh sold from €70 to €85. The trade for hoggets was subdued, with a significant percentage of the sale made up of tail-end hoggets. Good-quality hoggets, weighing 50kg to 53kg, sold from €108 to €112, with a top price of €116 paid for good-quality 54kg Suffolk ewe hoggets.

Hoggets weighing from 47kg to 50kg sold from €97 for a pen of ram lambs lacking flesh to €106, while forward store hoggets weighing 42kg to 44kg sold from €90 for plainer quality lots to €98. Demand for light hoggets was sluggish.

There was good interest in ewes with lambs at foot, with prices influenced by quality. Single lamb lots sold from €100 to €130 for aged ewes with light lambs to a top of €160 for the good-quality young ewes. Twin lamb lots sold from €190 to €203 for good-quality ewes and lambs, reducing to €170 for lesser-quality lots with aged ewes.