Camera at the Mart: 47% of hoggets top €300 at Borris sale

The Borris Ewe Breeders Association premier show and sale of Suffolk-cross-Cheviot hoggets and ewe lambs met a buoyant trade for hoggets, with 47% of the 900 hoggets entered selling from €300 to €360/head.

Mart manager Jimmy Walsh reported that another 45% of entries ranged from €260 to €295/head.

The balance sold briskly with demand for lighter types and prices from €245 to €255.

The sale prices for hoggets were €50 to €60-plus per head dearer on the corresponding sale in 2023, where prices topped at €300 and a good percentage traded from €200 to €240.

Borris Ewe Breeders Association chair Maurice Donohoe commented that current high cull ewe prices and an anticipation that hogget supplies may be in tighter supply helped generate a keener appetite from buyers in the first sale.

“Many buyers of hoggets and ewe lambs are seeing cull ewes exceed the €200 mark and sell to €250 and higher.

“This is cancelling out the higher prices being paid, while early lamb producers are also in a good position following a better trade earlier this year.”

Jimmy Walsh welcomed the fine trade for hoggets. He said the higher finished hogget prices this spring were hard to pass up and said that it was important that farmers who committed to retaining top-quality breeding stock were rewarded for their efforts.

Ewe lamb trade

While ewe hoggets were significantly up on 2023 levels, ewe lambs recorded a steadier trade for an entry of approximately 600 head.

The general run of prices reported for good-quality Suffolk-cross-Cheviot ewe lambs weighing from 38kg to 48kg ranged from €155 to €170, with an average price of €165 recorded for lambs weighing 46kg.

A selection of better-quality lambs ranged from €170 to upwards of €200 for prizewinners, with the hammer falling for the first-prizewinning pen at €220/head.

Prices paid for plainer-quality heavier lambs were supported by the stronger factory lamb trade providing a firm floor under prices paid for fleshed types, while some lighter plainer-quality types were among the 15% of lambs which went unsold.

The quality of lambs on offer was improved on last year, but some lambs were still lighter than normal given the challenging spring.

Some farmers opted to hold some lighter lambs until subsequent sales and this is expected to boost quality on offer at the second group sale on Saturday 24 August.