SheepWatch: agents increasing activity for falling supplies

There is much more life in the mart trade over the last week. Agents are trying to keep a lid on prices paid, but greater demand is generating higher levels of competition.

Prices are being influenced by factory quotes, with fleshed lambs weighing 50kg to 54kg and likely to kill into maximum weight brackets selling from €98 to €104 on average.

Wholesale and butcher demand is kicking in for the best-quality lambs, with top prices paid ranging from €102 to €108 per head.

Slaughter-fit lambs weighing 44kg to 47kg are selling from €88 to €95 on average

Lambs weighing 47kg to 49kg are trading anywhere from €90 to €92 for lots lacking flesh and rising to €96 to €100 for fleshed lots. Factory agents are also willing to drop down in weight to secure higher numbers.

Slaughter-fit lambs weighing 44kg to 47kg are selling from €88 to €95 on average, with store lamb buyers in the market for short-keep lambs also inserting competition into the trade.

Longer-keep lowland stores weighing 30kg to 35kg are selling from €65 to €78 on average

The improvement in finished lamb prices is slowly adding more bite into the trade for store lambs. Lowland lambs weighing 37kg to 41kg are selling on average from €2/kg to €2.20/kg, with lambs matched evenly on gender, weight, size and type still attracting the strongest demand.

Longer-keep lowland stores weighing 30kg to 35kg are selling from €65 to €78 on average, while hill types in the same weight bracket are selling anywhere from €1.70/kg for plainer-quality types to €1.90/kg to €2.00/kg.

The cull ewe trade has witnessed a major injection in demand. Slaughter-fit ewes are trading on average from €90 to €115 for medium- and large-framed ewes.

Very heavy fleshed ewes are being traded in small numbers and pushing prices to €120 to €125 in infrequent cases.