Mart managers are reporting a vibrant trade across all classes of stock. Factory agents from competing plants are clashing at sales and, along with keen butcher demand, this has underpinned a further price increase of €1 to €3 per head.

Heavier lambs weighing 47kg upwards are selling in general from €114 to €120, with some exceptional lots attracting butcher interest rising in cases to €125 or higher.

Lambs weighing 43kg to 46kg are typically selling from €108 to €117.

The store lamb trade continues to gain intensity

Agents have no problem in dropping down on weights and are purchasing lambs as light as 37kg to 38kg as long as they have a cover of flesh. Prices for these lots range on average from €97 to in excess of €100.

The store lamb trade continues to gain intensity. Entries are increasing, but so too are the number of farmers looking for lambs. Tight-wooled lowland lambs weighing 35kg to 38kg are selling anywhere from €80 to €95 on average, with wether lambs securing a premium over ram lambs in many cases. Lighter lots weighing 32kg to 35kg are selling from €75 to a top of €85 to €90, while crossbred lambs are selling in general from €2.15/kg to €2.25/kg.

Hoggets also got off to a swift start, with lighter lots from €175 to €185 and the best-quality lots reaching and exceeding €200

There is strong demand reported for ewes suitable for early lambing. The first breeding sale in Tullow Mart on Tuesday recorded prices for first-, second- and third-crop ewes from €145 to €165, with full- and broken-mouth ewes from €120 upwards.

Hoggets also got off to a swift start, with lighter lots from €175 to €185 and the best-quality lots reaching and exceeding €200.

The recovery in the cull ewe trade is giving more strength to purchase replacements. Fleshed cull ewes are selling from €100 for medium-weight ewes to €120 to €125 on average for large-framed ewes.

Entries of very heavy ewes weighing upwards of 90kg to 100kg are trading in cases to €130 to €140. Feeding ewes are solid with lowland types selling on average from €70 to €90.