Over the past week, there has been much more life in mart sales for hoggets.

Numbers are coming out as Easter buying has kicked off in earnest, with agents keen for evenly-sized fleshed hoggets.

According to mart managers, a lot more hoggets weighing 50kg-plus are selling for €126 to €130/head, with some top-quality lots reaching €135/head. Very heavy hoggets are not seeing the same demand, with factory agents reluctant to go too far for overweight hoggets.

Mart managers have also noticed a sharp rise in demand for short-keep store hoggets weighing 40kg to 45kg, with prices up €5 to €8/head in a lot of cases.

A good proportion of these hoggets are now selling from €110 to €114/head, which shows buyers are optimistic about the trade for hoggets in a month’s time.

Spring lamb numbers are still very small in marts, with some sales not seeing any to date. Numbers are not expected to pick up significantly for at least a few weeks.

Top-quality young ewes with two lambs at foot are selling up to €275/unit. Most ewes with two lambs are moving from €170 to €250/unit, depending on the age of the ewes.

Top prices for young ewes with a strong lamb at foot are making €225/unit, but, again, this is the top of the market, with most ranging from €130 to €180/unit.

Demand for cull ewes is very strong. It seems €70/head is rock bottom for the majority of light lowland-bred ewes.

Most feeding ewes are selling from €80 to €90/head, with fleshed ewes selling from €100/head upwards. The biggest and most-fleshed ewes are making up to €140/head.