This is a subscriber-only article
There was a large entry of ewes with lambs at foot at last Saturday’s sale in Mountbellew mart in Co Galway.
One farmer had an entry of over 50 first crop ewes split into lots of ones and twos. Outside of this, there was a good mix of young and aged ewes with lambs varying from a few weeks old to a small selection of ewes with aged top-quality lambs.
As can be expected, it was these lots that attracted the top prices with the sale topper being a three-year-old ewe with good quality twin Charollais lambs selling for €278.
There was also two ewes from the same seller with single lambs on the point of slaughter and as can be seen from the photos these sold for €211 per unit.
The trade can be described as firm with a mixture of farmers looking to add to existing numbers while others were sourcing sheep to meet ANC stocking rate limits. Good quality first and second crop ewes with twin lambs at foot sold from €220 to €250 with aged ewes and lesser quality lots selling from €180 to €215 per head.
The first crop Suffolk x Mule ewe on the right had good quality Charollais cross lambs and sold for €250.
This large-framed Texel ewe on the left with a nice-quality Texel ewe lamb at foot sold for €166 each.
This first crop Suffolk cross ewe and two light Suffolk lambs sold for €190 each.
This first crop Texel cross ewe and her lambs sold for €158.
Five large-framed yearling hoggets with light single lambs at foot sold for €157 per unit.
These two average quality hoggets were making a super job on their single lambs and sold for €144 each.
This pen of top-quality Suffolk and Texel cross spring lambs weighed 47.5kg and sold for €116 each.
This pen of Suffolk lambs had some excellent quality lambs with a great finish and some with a lower cover of flesh. they weighed 47kg and sold for €115.
Seven Suffolk cross lambs with good length weighed 46.5kg and sold for €114.
These eight good quality 42kg Charollais lambs were unsold at €110 each.
Three ram lambs weighing 56kg sold for €114 each.
The general trend for single lamb lots started at €150 for small framed ewes or light lambs and increased to €165. Better quality lots increased to €180.
If marts are an indication of numbers of hoggets left in the system, then supplies heading to factories could tighten quickly. There were only about 10 lots of hoggets entered with most featuring in the photo carousel.
The trade for ewe lambs was also strengthened by strong farmer competition with a couple of buyers looking to source sheep to maintain their reference number for the Animal Welfare Sheep scheme.
This saw firm competition for three pens of good-quality Suffolk ewe hoggets which sold for €132, €138 and €145 each.
Two three-year olds ewes with single lambs that could be killed immediately sold for €211 for each outfit.
This first-crop crossbred ewe with an aged Charollais lamb at foot sold for €180.
This good-quality Suffolk cross first crop ewe had two young but nice quality lambs and sold for €238 each.
This lighter-framed texel cross ewe with a great quality lamb at foot sold for €150.
Two first crop Suffolk crossbred ewes with good-quality twin Charollais lambs at foot sold for €135 per unit.
A second and third crop ewes with young Charollais cross lambs at foot sold for €200 per unit.
A third crop and fourth crop Suffolk cross ewes with two young Charollais cross lambs at foot sold for €200 per unit.
This pen of speckle-faced crossbred ewe hoggets weighed 52kg and sold for €122 each.
Low spring lamb entry
The entry of spring lambs was also limited with about 80 lambs on offer. The majority of these were good quality lambs weighing 46kg to 49kg which sold in a tight price range of €114 to €117.
A few pens of lighter lots weighing 42kg to 45kg sold from €105 for average quality lots to €112 while one pen of 38kg lambs sold for €90.
SHARING OPTIONS: