A wider differential has opened up between mart sales where wholesale and butcher buyers are dominating the trade to those where factory agents are dominant.

There have been a number of standout sales, mainly in the southeast of the country, where heavy fleshed lambs weighing 50kg to 55kg have sold with ease from €188 to €200 per head and select lots have hit as high as €210 to €220/head.

This is in sharp contrast to sales where factory buyers dominate, with prices more closely aligned with the factory trade.

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Here prices for heavier lambs are topping out in the region of €177 to €182 per head for heavier lambs, with some rising to €188 per head.

Numbers of fleshed lambs are relatively tight and agents are keen to use sales to boost their throughput.

They are willing to drop down in the weight for lambs with flesh cover, but again there is a significant differential in price.

The typical run of prices for lambs weighing 47kg to 49kg is from €167 to €177, depending on condition but such lambs have hit as high as €180 to the low-to-mid-€190s in sales with wholesale / butcher buying.

Store lambs

All mart managers are reporting more life in the trade for store lambs but presentation is having a big influence on price. Lowland lambs are averaging in the region of €3.60/kg to €3.85/kg with some top-quality lots rising to and exceeding €4/kg.

Hill crosses and Scottish Blackface lambs are also meeting firmer demand with male Scottish Blackface lambs selling from €3/kg to €3.30/kg and upwards of €3.40/kg to €3.50/kg for well-grown lambs with a good flesh cover.

Demand for ewe hoggets has improved with prices up €10 to €20 per head in places.

Top-quality hoggets are selling from €270 to €300 per head. Smaller-framed but nice-quality lots are selling from €230 to €260 with some plainer-quality and light-framed lots back to €200/head.

Culls ewes are variable. A prices of €2/kg to €2.30/kg is buying a lot of fleshed ewes but some sales are recording prices up to €2.50/kg and higher.