After a couple of weeks of intense demand for sheep the appetite from factory agents and butcher/wholesale buyers has cooled somewhat this week.

This lull in demand is not entirely surprising with many orders filled or part-filled at this stage for the Easter trade and two shorter weeks processing.

The strong demand of late is reflected in last week’s throughput of 61,978 head. This is an increase of 3,113 head on the previous week and follows on from an increase of 4,024 in the week before that again. Hoggets are underpinning the high kill figure at over 55,000 head.

Prices on offer in factories are steady and range on average from €7.20/kg to €7.40/kg with top prices hitting €7.50/kg.

Hogget prices in Northern Ireland are also unchanged averaging around the £6/kg (€7.19/kg) mark. The general run of hoggets weighing in excess of 50kg in mart sales is falling within a price range of €160 to €170 per head.

Quieter activity from butcher and wholesale buyers has witnessed the top prices recorded in mart sales last week ease back.

Fleshed spring lambs weighing 42kg to 50kg are selling on average from €115 to €120 with the weight. Factory quotes are in the region of €8/kg with general prices reported ranging from €8.15/kg to €8.30/kg. Quotes in Northern Ireland remain around the £6.50/kg mark (€7.80kg).

Cull ewe trade

The cull ewe trade has also reduced following a spike in prices last week.

Heavy fleshed ewes weighing 95kg to 100kg upwards are selling from €180 to €220 with select lots hitting highs of up to €250 per head, albeit at a much lower frequency than last week.

Read Sheep Trends for more.