Reports from mart managers are more variable as the week progresses.
They comment that agents are still keen to maintain their share of throughput, but are somewhat more cautious in their purchasing behaviour in light of factory attempts to reduce prices.
Good-quality lowland hoggets weighing from 55kg upwards are selling midweek in the region of €165 to €172/head, with prices earlier in the week a few euro higher.
Lighter hoggets weighing 48kg to 50kg are trading from €152 to €165, with quality becoming more variable and having a big say on prices paid.
Lamb prices are stable in the main, with numbers remaining relatively small.
Heavier lambs
Heavier lambs weighing 46kg to 50kg are trading on average from €160 to €170, with select lots attracting keen butcher attention selling to the mid-€170s and higher on occasion.
Prices paid for lighter lambs weighing 42kg to 45kg are strongly influenced by kill-out potential. Those with a good potential are trading from €155 to upwards of €160, with lambs lacking flesh selling back to €150 and lower.
The trade for ewes with lambs at foot has improved significantly, with demand lifting on the back of signs of improved weather and grass growth.
It is hard to put a range on prices paid, given the gulf in quality often present. Large-framed ewes and younger ewes with twin lambs at foot are selling from €250 to €300, with aged ewes and young and lighter lambs back to €180 to €200.
Likewise, single lamb lots are trading from €170 to €240 for good-quality units and back to €100 for crossbred or hill ewes with light lambs.
Cull ewes
Culls ewes remain a solid trade, with large-framed ewes weighing of 85kg to 90kg from €160 to €210. Lighter ewes weighing around 80kg are selling from €130 to €155, with very few fleshed lowland ewes now falling below €100/head.
Scottish Blackface ewes and ewes lacking flesh are trading from €1/kg to €1.30/kg on average. The high numbers of ewes indicate that farmers are quick to move any ewes which experienced any issues.
