Sheep mart prices: hoggets €1 to €2 firmer in many sales

There is a bit more life in the mart trade this week, with prices increasing by €1 to €2/head.

Agents are trying to keep prices in check, but they have edged upwards on the back of a keener appetite for hoggets and relatively tight supplies of well-fleshed types.

Prices for quality hoggets weighing from 50kg to 53kg range from €170 to €175/head, with top-quality and heavier lots rising in cases to €178 to upwards of €180/head.

There is a significant differential between prices paid for fleshed hoggets and those lacking flesh cover, with prices differing by as much as €8 to €10/head for similar weight sheep.

This is more pronounced for lighter hoggets weighing from 44kg to 47kg, with prices ranging in the main from €150 to €160 for fleshed sheep, but falling €5/head either side of this price range.

Store hoggets

There is firm demand for stores, but, again, there is big variation depending on quality.

The general run of prices for good-quality lowland stores is €3.30/kg to €3.70/kg. However, there are certain batches of stores selling to €3.80/kg, with keen demand for ewe hoggets with breeding potential, while at the other end of the quality spectrum, light-framed hoggets with poor weight for age are selling back to €3/kg.

Scottish Blackface hoggets are selling on average from €3/kg to €3.40/kg, with better demand again for ewe hoggets.

The cull ewe trade is unchanged to possibly stickier in some sales.

A price range of €2/kg to €2.15/kg is purchasing a high percentage of heavier hoggets weighing from 85kg to 100kg, with select lots above this range.

Prices are following a similar trend for lighter lots, with a higher price per kilo of €2.20/kg-plus for best-quality lots. Ewes with an average cover of flesh are selling from €1.50/kg to €1.80/kg, with boner-type and light-carcase hill ewes selling back to €1/kg to €1.20/kg.

In-lamb ewes are a variable trade. Hoggets ewes carrying 1.7 to two lambs per ewe range from €260 to €330 in the main, while prices for large-framed second- and third-crop ewes range from €170 to €260.