Friday evening saw 1,600 mule sheep, consisting of 1,100 ewe lambs and 500 hoggets, pass through the ring in Tuam mart for the Mule Lanark group’s annual breeding sale.

In a similar trend to other breeding sales, while quality still commanded a premium, prices were back by circa €30/head for the hoggets on offer.

Topping the day's trading was a pen of strong hoggets selling for €400/head, having earlier claimed first prize in the pre-sale show. Ninety of the 500 hoggets on offer sold for €300/head or more, with prices fluctuating between €230/head, for sheep presenting with horns or a lighter frame, up to the top of €400/head.

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The majority of hoggets on offer were sold to ringside bidders for prices between €260-€280/head. Just one pen of hoggets sold below €200/head.

Ewe lambs

In the ewe lambs, prices peaked at €245/head for a batch of sharp lambs weighing 46.5kg (€5.27/kg).

A total of 220 lambs sold for €200/head or greater, with a further 360 lambs selling between €175-€195/head.

Nearly all lambs sold below this weight were 40kg or less in liveweight and were purchased by a mix of farmers and specialist hogget producers.

This pen of ewe lambs weighing 38kg sold for €195.

This pen of sharp ewe lambs weighing 46.5kg sold for €245.

This pen of strong, well marked hoggets sold for €335.

This first prize winning pen of hoggets sold for the top price of €400, with the pen to the right of them selling for €270.

This pen of second prize ewe hoggets on the right sold for €390/head, with the pen on the left selling for €255/head.

This pen of strong mule hoggets sold for €370/head.

This pen of ewe lambs on the left weighing 43kg sold for €210, with the pen on the right weighing 38kg selling for €195.

The ewe lambs on the left weighed 42.5kg and sold for €190, with the ewe lambs in the middle and right weighing 41kg and 40kg and sold for €210 and €190 respectively.