The cull ewe trade has burst into life in the last week, with prices increasing by anywhere from €20 to €40 per head.

Heavy fleshed ewes weighing in excess of 95kg are now easily exceeding the €200 mark, with high numbers selling to €260 per head and select lots reaching as high as €270 to €300 per head.

The strong price for cull ewes is overshadowing the start of the spring lamb trade.

Numbers have increased significantly this week ahead of the Easter trade.

In line with 2021

Prices for lambs weighing 45kg to 50kg are ranging on average from €165 to €180, with select lots of prizewinning lambs in special spring lamb show and sales hitting €190 to €200 per head.

The trade is largely in line with opening prices in 2021.

Factory quotes are in the region of €8.15/kg to €8.30/kg, with prices reported as high as €8.40/kg to €8.50/kg for well-conformed lambs satisfying weight requirements.

An entry of over 400 lambs met a brisk trade, with lambs weighing 41kg to 44kg selling from €160 to €170

The unusual trade was evident in Tullow Mart’s spring lamb show and sale on Tuesday.

An entry of over 400 lambs met a brisk trade, with lambs weighing 41kg to 44kg selling from €160 to €170, while heavier lots weighing up to 50kg and higher sold in general from €174 to €180 and as high as €200 for prizewinning lambs.

However, cull ewes set the headlines, with lots weighing in excess of 100kg, including Cheviot ewes, selling in the main from €220 to €265, with 104kg Texel-cross ewes reaching €296 per head.

The strong trade for ewes is being driven by tight mutton supplies in the UK and several EU markets and boosted by the Ramadan festival.

Positive prospects

Market prospects are positive with the latest European Commission short-term outlook reporting the EU sheep and goat flock declining by 2.7m head (3.7%) in 2021 and sitting at its lowest level since 1990.

The report predicts that imports of sheepmeat will remain tight in 2022, while domestic production will fall by 2%.

For more, read Sheep Trends here and Darren Carty's report on how lower New Zealand supplies are bolstering EU markets.