The scale of the increase in hogget prices caught the majority of the sheep sector off guard with no one anticipating prices to rise by upwards of €20 to €30 per head in the space of just a week.

The upturn in the trade has been the greatest in live sales with factory quotes struggling to keep pace.

Thursday evening’s sale in Ballinasloe Mart reflects the drastic upturn in fortunes.

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The top price in the sale just seven days previous was €205 paid for a batch of top-quality ewe hoggets with the general run of top-quality hoggets selling from €190 to €200 per head.

Prices

Fast forward to this week’s sale and top prices have lifted by upwards of €20 to €30 per head.

Five lots of hoggets weighing from 55kg to 60kg plus topped the €230 mark, selling from €232 to a top of €238.

The general run of quality well-fleshed lowland hoggets weighing from 52kg to 55kg sold from €205 to €218 per head with a few lots of lesser-quality lots weighing back to 50kg selling back to €200 per head.

Lighter fleshed hoggets weighing around the 45kg mark sold from €185 to €194 per head on average. While store hoggets sold from €3.70/kg to €4/kg with a few lots of lighter lots selling to €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg.

These three heavy hoggets sold for the top price of €238 per head.

Weighing 54kg, these Charollais-cross and Texel-cross hoggets sold for €220 (€4.07/kg).

This batch of 10 Charollais-cross hoggets weighing 56kg sold for €234 (€4.18/kg).

These 15 well-fleshed Charollais-cross hoggets weighing 55kg sold for €232 (€4.22/kg).

This batch of mixed breed hoggets weighing 58kg sold for €228 (€3.93/kg).

These Charollais-cross lambs weighing 54kg sold for €196.

These mainly Suffolk-cross hoggets weighing 54kg sold for €214 (€3.96/kg).

Weighing 52kg, these Charollais-cross hoggets sold for €207 (€3.98/kg).

This batch of 56.3kg Scottish Blackface hoggets sold for €190 (€3.37/kg).

Weighing 45kg, this batch of 17 mainly Charollais-cross hoggets sold for €191 (€4.24/kg).