There was just over 300 sheep in Donegal Livestock Mart for the fortnightly sheep sale.

The entry consisted mostly of hoggets, cull ewes and in-lamb ewes.

Demand for all of the categories of sheep on offer was high from ringside bidders, leading to an impressive overall clearance rate of 100%.

Cull ewes

The sale was topped by a strong Suffolk cull ewe that sold for €260. She was well fleshed and weighed 88kg, achieving a price per kg of €2.95.

The cull ewe entry was very mixed, with some strong commercial-type ewes and some lighter hill ewes. The heavier commercial ewes sold from €144 to €248 and the hill ewes sold from €40 to €126.

There was just one cull ram in the sale. He was an aged pedigree Suffolk ram and weighed in at 98kg, selling for €170 (€1.73/kg).

In-lamb ewes

The in-lamb ewe entry was made up completely of hill ewes. They were sold carrying a mixture of both singles and twins.

Topping the section was a pair of Cheviot-cross ewes that sold for €172 each, scanned carrying two lambs each.

The rest of the in-lamb ewe category sold from €94 to €136, depending on the quality and the number of lambs they were carrying.

Hoggets

With the recent drop in hogget prices in factories, the effect was noticed in the Donegal sales ring.

There was a total of three lots of hoggets weighing over 50kg. They were mostly well-fleshed horned lambs and all three lots sold for €206/head, achieving a top price per kilo of €3.60/kg.

There were just two lots of hoggets weighing from 45kg to 50kg and they sold for €194/head (€4.04/kg) and €196/head (€4.14/kg).

The demand for hoggets weighing from 35kg to 45kg was also slightly down on the previous sales. They sold from €128 (€3.28/kg) to €176 (€4/kg).

The hoggets in the highest demand were those weighing from 25kg to 35kg. These more sought-after hoggets sold from €86 (€3/kg) to €144 (€4.66/kg).

Mart manager Eimear McGuinness commented: "It was great to see a 100% clearance rate. The entry was made up more of hill sheep this week and that reflected the prices across the board this week."

In pictures

This pedigree Suffolk cull ram weighing 98kg sold for €170 (€1.73/kg).

These three cull ewes weighing 72.20kg sold for €216 per head (€2.97/kg).

These two hoggets weighing 39kg sold for €150 per head (€3.84/kg).

These 11 hoggets weighing 47.30kg sold for €196 per head (€4.14/kg).

These four hoggets weighing 31.50kg sold for €134 per head (€4.25/kg).

These 19 hoggets weighing 57.70kg sold for €206 per head (€3.57/kg).

These 16 hoggets weighing 57.10kg sold for €206 per head (€3.60/kg).

This pedigree Suffolk cull ewe weighing 88kg sold for €260 (€2.95/kg).