Mart managers cite challenging road conditions as being responsible for this week’s slight reduction in throughput levels.

With the exception of some very fancy prices paid for lambs in fatstock sales or for special entries of butcher lambs, the trade remains largely unchanged.

The general run of prices for lowland lambs with a good cover of flesh ranges from €96 to €102 over the weight for lambs weighing 48kg to 50kg upwards.

Top prices in fatstock sales are anywhere from €10 to €30 higher, but this is in isolated cases and for small numbers relative to total sales.

Spectrum

At the other end of the quality spectrum, plainer-quality and lambs lacking flesh are trading back to €90 over and as low as €85 over for mixed quality or poorly matched lots.

Prices paid for store lambs are largely steady, with a price range of €2.60/kg to €2.85/kg buying the majority of lowland lambs possessing a nice cover of flesh, while nicely presented crossbred or plainer-quality lambs or lambs lacking flesh cover range from €2.40/kg to €2.65/kg on average.

Scottish Blackface and light hill lambs continue to meet a challenging trade, with prices ranging anywhere from €1.70/kg to €1.90/kg on average for long-keep lambs weighing less than 30kg, rising to €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg for heavier lambs with the potential to finish quicker and reach carcase weights in excess of 17kg.

Cull ewes

The cull ewe trade is stable in most places. The general run of prices for heavy fleshed ewes weighing 90kg to 95kg upwards is from €130 to €150, with select lots of excellent-quality ewes rising to €170 and higher.

These are typically purchased for exporting live or as part of niche carcase orders.

Prices for ewes weighing around the 80kg mark are in the region of €90 to €120, with ewes lighter lots weighing 60kg to 65kg selling from €1/kg for poor-quality ewes lacking significant flesh to €20 to €25 over. Scottish Blackface ewe continue to trade from slightly under €1/kg to €1.20/kg.