There are contrasting fortunes for mart throughput reported by many managers. Marts continue to benefit from a solid trade for finished lambs, while store lamb entries are seasonally increasing.
There are contrasting fortunes for mart throughput reported by many managers.
Marts continue to benefit from a solid trade for finished lambs, while store lamb entries are seasonally increasing.
The number of ewe hoggets and breeding ewes being presented is significantly lower than in many sales.
This is not surprising, given the number of ewe hoggets drafted for slaughter in spring and strong cull ewe prices pushing ewes which may otherwise have been fit for breeding down this avenue.
Prices for store lambs are solid, with lowland lambs selling in the main from €3/kg to €3.20/kg and ranging anywhere from €3.20/kg to €3.40/kg for the best-quality types, including ewe lambs with breeding potential.
Plainer-quality and some crossbred lambs are selling from €2.80/kg to €3/kg, with heavier hill lambs from €2.50/kg to €2.75/kg and light or small-framed Scottish Blackface lambs back to €2/kg and under.
Finished lambs are solid, with a price range of €155 to €167 accounting for a high percentage of lambs weighing upwards of 50kg.
Select lots are exceeding this range, while lambs lacking significant flesh cover are falling below this price point.
Good-quality hoggets are trading from €250 to €300 in many sales, with prizewinners in special sales rising to €320 to €330 for the best lots.
Lighter hoggets are trading back to €180 to €200, with low numbers as yet being presented below this level. Hill sheep have not appeared in any great number to date.
The trade for cull ewes is steady. A high percentage of heavy fleshed ewe are trading from €2/kg to €2.20/kg.
There are isolated deals still being recorded up to €2.50/kg, but numbers are small and often confined to lots from one to a handful of ewes.
Good feeding ewes are trading from €1.65/kg to €1.90/kg, with aged and poorer-quality lots that will take significant time to recover back to €1.30/kg to €1.55/kg.
Ewes lacking significant flesh cover are trading back to €1/kg and to as low as 70c/kg to €1/kg for very light carcase ewes.
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