Sheep mart prices: trade remains steady across all types

Prices around the ring in marts have held firm this week, with little to no change being recorded by mart mangers, with appetite level from factory agents and feeders still to the same tempo.

The general run of prices for lambs weighing from 50kg to 53kg remains in the region of €170 to €177, with quality and potential slaughter performance having a significant influence on prices paid.

Heavier and excellent-quality lambs are rising to and exceeding €180/head, with some sales reporting odd pens attracting keen butcher, wholesale buyer or hogget producer demand rising to the mid- to highs-€180s, though this is seen only for very select lots of even, well-fleshed ewe lambs.

Prices paid for lambs weighing 45kg to 49kg are heavily dependent on flesh cover and kill-out potential, with a mix of well-fed slaughter-fit lambs and forward stores in need of hard feeding to obtain flesh cover. Prices range anywhere from €148 to €158/head for quality lowland types, with crossbred or plainer-quality lots back to the low-€140s.

Store lambs remain a tale of two halves, with quality and weight both feeding into price.

A lesser demand is witnessed for very light lambs, though heavier stores remain solid.

Prices average in the region of €3.20/kg to €3.30/kg for well-presented store lambs, with those with a better cover of flesh selling to €3.40/kg in cases.

Poorer-quality and crossbred stores are selling from €3/kg to €3.15/kg.

Some lighter but top-quality stores are still recording a higher price per kilo of €3.40/kg to €3.65/kg, but long-term prospects or lambs which appear to have their growth stunted are selling below the €3/kg mark and range from €2.75/kg to €3/kg.

Cull ewes are unchanged, with the majority of heavier fleshed ewes selling from €2.10/kg to €2.30, while top-quality lots are rising in cases to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg, but numbers are small.

Feeding ewes are selling around the €2/kg mark for lowland types, with heavier hill ewes and ewes with a poorer cover of flesh back to €1.50/kg to €1.70 and €1/kg to €1.30/kg for light carcase types.