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There is much more life entering the sheep trade in recent days.
Factory agents are responding to last week’s 10c/kg to 15c/kg upward movement in factory hogget prices and possess stronger purchasing power in mart sales and deals direct from the farm.
Hogget prices in marts held since the end of last week have increased on average from €3/head to €6/head for slaughter-fit hoggets, with much more interest for heavy hoggets that were previously a difficult sell.
Monday’s sale in Athenry Mart saw much more competition between wholesalers, butchers and factory agents.
Manager Alan Barry said that average prices for heavy hoggets were up €5/head to €6/head, with certain types up more. Wholesale and butcher demand underpinned the trade with hoggets weighing 50kg upwards selling from €110/head to €116/head.
Supplies were tighter than previous weeks and this also helped generate greater competition, which transferred through to the cull ewe sale. Heavy fleshed ewes have increased in price by €10 to €15 in recent weeks, with good-quality slaughter-fit lowland ewes selling from €100 to €115.
Large-framed, heavy carcase ewes increased to a top price of €125/head.
More bidding in Kilkenny
Meanwhile, in Kilkenny, the number of lambs on offer was up on last week, but still tight for the time of year.
Auctioneer George Candler reported the trade for hoggets rising by €2 to €4/head. Good-quality hoggets weighing 49kg to 53kg sold from €103/head to €110/head, with heavier lots also attracting more interest than previous weeks and selling to a top of €112/head to €114/head.
Lots weighing 45kg to 47kg sold from €95 to €100, with top-quality lots securing a few euro extra. Ewes were also in firm demand, with fleshed lowland ewes selling from €95 to €115.
Large-framed lots exceeded this range, with a top price of €131 paid for great-quality pedigree Suffolk ewes.
Factory quotes
Quotes from factories remain at last week’s levels but agents are having to pay more to secure sales. Deals involving smaller numbers range from €4.75/kg to €4.80/kg, but sellers and dealers handling higher numbers and possessing greater negotiating power are securing €4.85/kg to €4.90/kg.
Reports show that northern agents purchasing for southern plants were also much more active over the weekend, with hoggets weighing 50kg upwards rising by £6/head (€7.04) to £10/head (€11.70), ranging from a top of £85 to £90 (€99 to €105).
This would leave northern lambs requiring up to and possibly over €5/kg to return a margin. Northern plants have had to react and increase quotes to £3.90/kg to £3.95/kg (€4.80/kg to €4.87/kg at 85.5p to the euro and 5.4% VAT).
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