Lamb trade in marts has seen another steady week, with marginal increases of €1 to €2/head being reported by some managers.

Better-quality lowland lambs attracting butcher-buyer attention are topping out at €165 to €170/head, while the general run of lambs weighing 50kg to 52kg ranges from €158 to €166 for well-fleshed lots, easing back to the mid-€150s and lower for lambs lacking flesh or crossbred lots with poorer slaughter potential.

Kill-out potential and fleshing is also affecting price for lambs weighing 46kg to 48kg, which are selling from the low- to mid-€140s for poorer-quality types to the mid- to high-€150s for lambs with good slaughter potential.

Store lamb demand

Demand for store lambs remains firm on the back of steady finished lamb prices, even with additional numbers coming on stream.

A high percentage of store lambs are trading from €2.90/kg to €3.20/kg for good-quality lowland lambs, with prices for select lots rising as high as €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg.

Crossbred types are trading from €2.80/kg to €3/kg for better-quality lots and back to €2.50/kg for poor fleshing lots.

Hill types are trading from €2/kg for very light lambs to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg for heavier lots.

The cull ewe trade is again largely unchanged from last week. Top-quality ewes are still capable of topping €2/kg, with medium-sized ewes with an average cover of flesh from €1.50/kg to €1.80/kg.

Scottish Blackface ewes are selling from 80c/kg to €1/kg for ewes lacking flesh to €1.30/kg to €1.50/kg for heavier carcase lots.

Hogget sales

With many premier hogget sales now complete, some lesser types of breeding hoggets have been turned out to marts, which has affected prices.

Top-quality and well-grown lowland hoggets are trading in normal sales from €230 to €280, with a selection of top-quality types rising to and exceeding €300/head.

Lighter good-quality crossbred types are trading from €200 to €250, with the highest-quality lots topping this.

Plainer-quality types are selling back under €200, with small-framed hoggets selling back to €170 and under.