Camera at the mart paid a visit this week to Thainstone Mart, Aberdeen, in the northeast of Scotland.

There was a good entry of fat hoggets for sale, with 2,867 head going under the hammer. Buyers were limited to factory agents.

All hoggets were sold, with a sale average of 163.3p/kg (192.1c/kg ex VAT), or £74/head to 45.5kg liveweight (€87).

Trade was slightly ahead of the previous week by €1 to €2/head.

Top-quality meal-fed Texel hoggets weighing 46kg to 47kg were in demand, selling to a top price of £87 (€102).

A few pens of heavy Texel hoggets weighing up to 55kg sold to a top price of £89 (€103), with a pen of 56kg Suffolk-cross hoggets selling to £82 (€96).

Most sheep on sale weighed 42kg to 45kg, with good-quality Texel-cross animals selling from £75 to £79 (€88 to €93). Suffolk-cross hoggets at similar weights were generally selling for €2 to €3 less.

Lighter sheep weighing 41kg to 42kg were a much slower trade, with most pens selling for £70 to £72/head (€82 to €85), depending on quality.

Store lambs sold to £66 (€78), with fat ewes and feeding ewes a very strong trade. Ewes with predominantly lowland breeding sold from £90 to £110/head (€106 to €129).