There have been some signs of relief around mart rings in the past few days, with more bite in the trade for lambs and for cull ewes.

With much lower numbers of hoggets on offer and with farmers busy doing field work, there has been lower numbers of lambs in marts in the past week.

As a result, lamb prices have strengthened by about €2 to 3/head on average, with the majority of factory-fit lambs with good levels of cover selling from €116 to €118/head, with some making over €120/head.

At the top of the market, there are some heavy lambs selling for in excess of €130/head in some sales.

Lambs from 46kg to 50kg are selling mainly from €116/head to €120/head, which is up slightly on last week.

Lambs around the 50kg mark are selling for just a few euros more than lighter types and butchers are the main buyers.

Lighter lambs from 42kg to 45kg have seen prices improve slightly also. They are selling mainly from €107 to €112/head.

Lighter lambs from 40kg to 42kg are low in numbers, but prices are ranging mainly from €100 to €110/head.

There is also demand building for store lambs, with lambs ranging from 35kg to 38kg selling from €85 to €95 per head, while stores weighing up to 40kg are selling to a top price of €100 per head.

Cull ewes, like lambs, have seen prices strengthen again, with top-quality heavy ewes making €125 to €130/head and more in some cases.

The majority of fleshed ewes are selling from €100 to €115, with plainer feeding ewes making from €70 to €90/head at most sales.