A strong cull ewe trade was evident in many mart sales in the last week.

Strong factory agent demand has helped push prices for large-framed, fleshed cull ewes to €110-€130/head, with top prices reaching €140 and even higher for exceptional-quality ewes. Lighter-framed ewes with an average to good cover of flesh are selling from €95 to €115 per head. Light carcase fleshed crossbred ewes are selling anywhere from €80 to €100 depending on size. Entries remain small, which is adding to competition, although throughput has increased slightly due to more barren ewes appearing in the last week.

Managers report very few lowland ewes selling below €70, with horned ewes selling from €50 to €80 per head.

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The lamb trade is steady. Well-fleshed lambs weighing 50kg to 55kg continue to average €67 to €72 over, with the highest-quality lambs attracting butcher attention and rising to €75 over. Lighter slaughter-fit lambs weighing 46kg upwards are selling from €60 to €68 over. Demand for store lambs has eased, with managers reporting less farmer activity due to lambs now requiring meal finishing. Short-keep lambs weighing 40kg to 44kg range in price from €2.00/kg for crossbreds to €2.15/kg for good-quality lowland stores.

Lighter lots lacking flesh are selling from €1.60/kg to €1.90/kg for horned lambs and from €1.90 to €2.05/kg for plainer quality lowland or crossbred lambs.

The in-lamb ewe trade remains relatively quiet. Hoggets carrying 1.5 to two lambs are trading from €180 to €200 with good quality second and third crop ewes selling from €150 to €185. Single bearing ewes are selling €20 to €30 below this range.