Camera at the Mart: ewe lambs hit €4.97/kg in Milford

Milford mart saw a bumper entry of 1,400 sheep at its most recent sheep sale.

The entry was predominantly made up of a large number of ewe lambs, ram lambs and cull ewes.

Demand for all categories of sheep remained high throughout the entire sale, leading to an overall clearance rate of 95%.

Topping the trade at €345 was an aged Suftex ram. The small entry of rams was met with high demand from the ringside.

A large percentage of the rams were heavy continental sheep and sold from €180/head to €280/head.

Cull ewes

With a large entry of just under 450 cull ewes, prices remained very consistent, with a large number of ewes breaching the €3/kg mark.

The top price paid for a cull ewe was €320 for a pedigree Texel ewe weighing 97kg.

A large number of the ewes present were well-fleshed continental ewes and they sold from €170 to €280.

Ewe lambs

There was fierce bidding for all weights of ewe lambs coming from online and the ringside.

There was a small number of ewe lambs weighing over 50kg and they sold from €3.81/kg to €4.11/kg.

There was a large number of ewe lambs weighing between 40kg and 50kg and they sold from €3.91/kg to €4.58/kg.

The largest number of ewe lambs weighed from 30kg to 40kg and demand for them was strong, with prices ranging from €3.95/kg to €4.81/kg.

The ewe lambs in the highest demand were those weighing from 20kg to 30kg, leading to prices of €4/kg to €4.97/kg being paid out.

Ram lambs

The ram lamb section had a slightly smaller entry than the ewe lamb section, but prices remained high.

Like the ewe lambs, it was the lighter ram lambs weighing from 20kg to 30kg that were the most sought after, selling from €3.50/kg to €4.93/kg.

Ram lambs weighing from 30kg to 40kg sold from €3.71/kg €4.85/kg.

The largest number of ram lambs weighed from 40kg to 50kg and they sold from €3.90/kg to €4.33/kg.

The number of heavy lambs weighing over 50kg was slightly smaller than the previous sale. They sold from €3.80/kg to €4.21/kg.

There was a small entry of in-lamb ewes, most of which were young lighter ewes.

They topped at €290/head for four ewes scanned carrying seven lambs. The rest of the in-lamb ewes sold from €200 to €270.