It has been a positive week for mart sales, with prices for lambs and hoggets rising anywhere from €5 to €20 per head compared to the previous week.
The scale of the increase was highly variable across sales and depended on the presence of either buyers purchasing lambs and hoggets for exporting live or the wholesale market looking to push returns above equivalent factory returns.
At the top end of the market a few sales held earlier in the week saw top prices for heavier spring lambs weighing 48kg to 52kg plus increase to €235 to €250 per head.
The general run in other sales was from €225 to €235, with a selection of the best-quality lots topping €240 per head.
There was a wider differential for lambs weighing in the region of 44kg to 46kg. Prices in more vibrant sales ranged from €220 to €230, while in sales more reliant on the factory trade prices ranged back to €215 and lower for plainer-quality types.
Prices paid for lighter lambs topped €5/kg for the best-quality types, rising to €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg for young, tight-wooled and well-fleshed types, and back to €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg for lesser-quality types.
Demand for hoggets also jumped with buying for the Islamic religious festival of Eid al-Adha.
The best-quality lots weighing from 55kg to 60kg sold from €220 to €230 per head, with hoggets weighing from 50kg to 55kg ranging anywhere from €200 to €225 per head.
There is still demand for batches of good-quality ewe hoggets, which sold on occasion to as high as €250 to €255 per head for well-grown nice-quality types.
The cull ewe trade is unchanged in the main. Heavy ewes weighing upwards of 90kg to 100kg are selling on average from €2.30/kg to €2.50/kg.
Some lighter lots weighing 85kg to 90kg are selling close to the same price range, with better demand reported in some sales for lighter ewes.
Prices range from €2.20/kg to €2.45/kg in the main, but vary 20c/kg either side of this price range depending on quality. Scottish Blackface ewes range from €1.50/kg to €2/kg.
It has been a positive week for mart sales, with prices for lambs and hoggets rising anywhere from €5 to €20 per head compared to the previous week.
The scale of the increase was highly variable across sales and depended on the presence of either buyers purchasing lambs and hoggets for exporting live or the wholesale market looking to push returns above equivalent factory returns.
At the top end of the market a few sales held earlier in the week saw top prices for heavier spring lambs weighing 48kg to 52kg plus increase to €235 to €250 per head.
The general run in other sales was from €225 to €235, with a selection of the best-quality lots topping €240 per head.
There was a wider differential for lambs weighing in the region of 44kg to 46kg. Prices in more vibrant sales ranged from €220 to €230, while in sales more reliant on the factory trade prices ranged back to €215 and lower for plainer-quality types.
Prices paid for lighter lambs topped €5/kg for the best-quality types, rising to €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg for young, tight-wooled and well-fleshed types, and back to €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg for lesser-quality types.
Demand for hoggets also jumped with buying for the Islamic religious festival of Eid al-Adha.
The best-quality lots weighing from 55kg to 60kg sold from €220 to €230 per head, with hoggets weighing from 50kg to 55kg ranging anywhere from €200 to €225 per head.
There is still demand for batches of good-quality ewe hoggets, which sold on occasion to as high as €250 to €255 per head for well-grown nice-quality types.
The cull ewe trade is unchanged in the main. Heavy ewes weighing upwards of 90kg to 100kg are selling on average from €2.30/kg to €2.50/kg.
Some lighter lots weighing 85kg to 90kg are selling close to the same price range, with better demand reported in some sales for lighter ewes.
Prices range from €2.20/kg to €2.45/kg in the main, but vary 20c/kg either side of this price range depending on quality. Scottish Blackface ewes range from €1.50/kg to €2/kg.
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