Demand for store lambs in Mountbellew Mart’s weekly sheep sale on Saturday greatly exceeded supply, with many buyers returning home without their desired numbers.

Top prices for well-presented and good-quality continental-bred lambs weighing 35kg to 40kg-plus sold to upwards of €3.80/kg to €4/kg.

There was a particularly sharp trade for ram lambs, with the main buyer sourcing ram lambs setting down a marker and paying €150 for the first batch of ram lambs traded weighing just 35.7kg.

The general run of prices for good-quality stores ranged from €3.70/kg to €3.90/kg, with certain lots of lesser-quality types back to €3.60/kg.

The trade for slaughter-fit sheep was also vibrant. Lambs weighing 50kg to 55kg lambs sold in the main from €179 to €187, with a few batch of excellent-quality fleshed lambs, some of which attracted butcher-buyer attention, selling to €190/head.

The top price for fleshed lambs hit €204 for a batch of Texel-bred ewe lambs weighing 63kg.

Ewe trade

The ewe trade also met a brisker trade, with numbers on offer declining and inserting more competition into the market.

Fleshed ewes weighing around the 80kg mark sold from €170 to €180 for ewes with a touch of crossbreeding in the mix, while ewes weighing 85kg to 86kg topped the €190 mark and sold to over €200 in a couple of cases.

The top price on the day was €246 paid for large-framed fleshed ewes.