Watch: lambs sell to €200 in Ballinalsoe Mart

The pressure of factory prices - with another 30c/kg cut this week and talk of a similar cut at the start of next week - led to factory agents being more cautious in their buying in Ballinasloe Mart on Thursday evening.

Lambs were in demand, but agents were aiming to give themselves some scope to return a margin going on next week’s price.

A top of €200 was the cut-off for top-quality and heavier lambs weighing upwards of 48kg to 50kg.

Sellers who dug in on prices at offers of €195 to €197 were rewarded for their efforts, with agents eventually willing to pay the price for quality lots. There was just one batch of lambs above this price, with a pen of three lambs weighing 67kg selling for €203.

The pick of prices was €190 paid for top-quality Texel lambs weighing 43kg, with a few other lots of super-quality lambs with great conformation selling to €4.20/kg to €4.40/kg live.

Prices for lambs weighing 44kg to 45kg ranged anywhere from €170 to €183 per head, depending on condition and likely slaughter performance.

Lambs weighing around the 40kg to 41kg mark sold from a starting point to €155 to €160 to the high-€160s for good-quality lots.

Weighing 43kg on average, these top-quality Texel lambs sold for €190 per head (€4.42/kg).

These top-quality lambs with a good cover of flesh and weighing 48kg sold for €200 (€4.17/kg).

These well-fleshed Charolais-cross and Suffolk-cross ewe lambs weighing 53kg sold for €200 per head (€3.77/kg).

This batch of three heavy lambs weighing 67kg sold for €205 each (€3.06/kg).

Weighing 42kg on average, this batch of 18 lambs sold for €172 (€4.10/kg).

This batch of 14 Charollais-cross lambs with an average weight of 42kg sold for €170.

These quality Charollais-cross lambs weighing 44kg sold for €180 (€4.09/kg).

This pen of mixed breed lambs weighing 38kg sold for €151 (€3.97/kg).

Weighing 42kg on average, these Texel-cross lambs were sold subject at €164 per head (€3.91/kg).

This batch of cull ewes weighing 97kg sold for €212 each (€2.19/kg).

Weighing 65kg, these cull ewes sold for €160 each (€2.46/kg).

This large-framed ewe weighing 100kg sold for €240 (€2.40/kg).

These Texel-cross ewes weighing 80kg sold for €194 each (€2.43/kg).

This first-crop ewe with a strong lamb at foot was bid to €320, but not sold.