Saturday’s sale at Dowra Mart saw a good entry of store lambs and finished lambs on offer. There was a good mix of lowland and crossbred lambs, with buyers present for all types.
Store lambs made up the majority of the sale and prices ranged mainly from €52 to €70 for light horned lambs and mountain crosses, with some types around 30kg making the upper end of prices. Lambs from 30kg to 35kg sold mainly from €70/head to €75/head, with most stores sold without weights.
Heavier stores and better-quality stores sold mainly from €82/head to €94/head, with some hoggets making around €100/head.
Heavy fleshed lambs suitable for slaughter over 44kg sold from €100/head to €106/head.
There was good demand for cull ewes also, with old horned ewes selling for €40 to €60, while better-quality types made from €70 to well over €100 for fat ewes.
The cattle trade was quite firm for good-quality continentals, but there was a little bit more value to be had for light calves and plainer types.
Heifer and bull calves around 200kg sold from twice the weight to about €100 to €150 over depending on quality, though the numbers on offer were reasonably small. Weanling bulls were a good trade for good-quality types, with prices of these ranging from €800/head to €900/head. Plainer types made around the €700 mark.
Heifer weanlings were a little stronger than bulls, with higher prices paid for good-quality types. Those from 300kg to 400kg sold from €800 to €950 for better-quality types, with plainer lots making €700 upwards.
Heavy bullocks were not quite as strong as heifers, with quality having a major influence on prices. Heavy store heifers sold to well over €1,200 where the quality on offer was high. Other average-quality types around 400kg to 500kg made from €900 to €1,000. There were plainer ones on offer also, which made from €800 to €900/head.
More details and pictures in next week's Irish Farmers Journal.
Lamb prices steady around €5.00/kg