Camera at the mart attended the weekly sheep sale in Plumbridge Mart, Co Tyrone. Over 1,000 sheep were forwarded for sale and stock were met with steady buying demand.

The bulk of sheep offered for sale were short-keep store lambs, with a good mix of heavy fleshed Texel- and Suffolk-cross animals in most demand.

Mart manager Brian Kerlin commented on the sale, saying that prices have been holding firm in recent weeks, despite greater numbers of sheep passing through the ring.

He added that with farmers holding the pick of their lambs for special breeding sales, there is still plenty of good-quality sheep being forwarded each week to suit the store trade.

In addition, he said breeding sales in particular have been extremely strong, with plenty of farmers looking for top-quality ewe lambs and hoggets for next year.

Store lambs sold to a top price of £80.50 for an excellent pen of heavy fleshed Suffolk-cross-Cheviot ram lambs.

This was followed by several pens of short-keep Suffolk and Suffolk-cross-Cheviot lambs selling from £75 to £77 per head.

Lighter pens of Suffolk-cross lambs typically sold from £66 to £68.50 for a pen of good ewe lambs.

A good entry of Texel-cross lambs commanded plenty of buying interest and prices typically ranged from £73 to £77 for heavy fleshed pens of ram lambs.

Lighter pens were still selling well, with prices more typically £70 to £72 per head.

Mules sold from £65.50 to £73.50 for a pen of ram lambs. Blackface lambs typically sold from £50 to £57.50, with good-quality Cheviot ram lambs making £59 to £66.50 per head.

Cull ewes sold to £81, with other noted prices seeing £75 paid on two occasions, with both pens forward being heavy fleshed Texel animals. Other ewes sold from £59 to £73.

On Tuesday, the mart also held its annual sale of Mule ewe lambs, with prices reaching a peak of £130 per head for the winning pen of ewe lambs from P Gallen.

Prices ranged from £78 to £124, depending on quality and size.

Suffolk ewe lambs sold from £82 to £124, with Texel-cross ewe lambs selling from £109 to £118.