Mart sales are drawing to a close for 2023 in a steady manner. Prices over the last week have been unchanged in the main, with only a few sales centres with a vibrant butcher or wholesale trade recording any significant movement.

Lambs weighing upwards of 50kg sold in the main from €98 to €102 with the weight for fleshed good-quality lots.

Sales with an added edge for butcher-type lambs recorded prices rising to €106 to €108 over the weight in cases, while lambs lacking flesh or plainer-quality types sold back to €92 to €95 over the weight.

There was a greater differential for lighter lambs, with kill-out potential having a much greater say on price.

Lambs weighing 44kg to 46kg sold from €86 to €93 over the weight for top-quality lots, while lambs lacking flesh sold back to €80 over the weight for lesser-quality types and back as low as €70 to €75 over the weight for store types very short on flesh.

Store lambs

The trade for store lambs is also unchanged. The general run of prices for well-presented continental-bred lambs with a good cover of flesh ranges from €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg with small numbers hitting €3/kg.

This includes select lots of ewe lambs with breeding potential.

Lesser-quality lots and longer-keep lambs are selling from €2.40/kg to €2.60/kg for heavier types.

Light hill and crossbred lambs remain a challenging trade, with prices averaging around the €2/kg to €2.30/kg mark for light and small-framed crossbred lambs.

A similar price range is evident for better-quality light Scottish Blackface lambs, with poor-quality types falling back in cases under the €2/kg mark.

The ewe trade is static. Heavy fleshed ewes are trading in the main from €135 to €155 for ewes weighing upwards of 90kg.

Medium-weight ewes weighing around the 80kg to 85kg mark are selling from €115 to €135 depending on quality, with crossbred types weighing 75kg selling from €90 to €110.

Light Scottish Blackface ewes and ewes lacking significant flesh are selling from 75c/kg to upwards of €1/kg to €1.15/kg for better-quality types.