The sheep trade has improved over the last week according to the country’s mart managers with lambs generally improving by €2-3/head in most venues.
This improvement comes on the back of a better factory trade, factory lambs generally traded from €2.00-2.37/kg while butcher lambs made €1.94-2.29/kg.
The store lamb trade also remains in good stead with the hammer falling on these lots from €2.00-2.40/kg.
According to mart managers, there is also good demand for cast ewes with the best of the factory fit cast ewes making €90-126/head, despite a fall in numbers coming forward for slaughter.
The sheep trade had improved in Fermoy Mart on Monday according to the Mart Manager Sean Leahy, with all lots up by €2-3/head.
According to the Mart Manager, this improvement in trade occurred on the back of smaller numbers with 450 sheep passing through the ring.
Leahy added that there was also more bite in the trade and this was especially the case for factory and butcher lambs which made €2.00-2.34/kg and €2.00-2.21/kg respectively.
The store lamb trade also remained strong with the hammer falling on these lots from €2.35-2.40/kg.
The Mart Manager said that cast ewes remained in good demand and these lots traded from €56-126/head, with the latter prices being paid for factory fit ewes.
There was a strong sheep trade in Carnew Mart on Thursday, according to the Mart Manger David Quinn.
According to Quinn, the prices achieved for the 3,500 sheep on offer had improved by €2-3/head on the previous week.
Store lambs met with a good buying trade and these lots generally sold from €40-56 over while the hammer fell on the ewe lambs at €78-125/head.
Butcher and factory lambs also remained in demand and these lots generally sold from €95-111 each.
There was also a good trade for cast ewes with the best of these lots trading at €105-119/head while the feeder lots made €65-100 each, said Quinn.
The sheep trade had also improved in Mountbellew Mart on Saturday with a similar number of sheep on offer from the previous week, according to the Mart Manager Marianne Higgins.
According to Higgins, the lamb trade had improved slightly but there was also a brisk trade for all the lots on offer.
Factory and butcher lambs met with a good trade and the hammer fell on these lots at €2.15-2.37/kg and €2.03-2.29/kg respectively.
The Mart Manager added that there was also good demand for fleshed ewe lambs, but the lighter store lambs were more difficult to sell with prices ranging from €72-88.
There was a smaller sheep sale in Raphoe Mart on Monday, according to the Mart Manager Anne Harkin.
According to the Mart Manager, there was almost a full clearance of lots with sellers very happy with the prices achieved, despite the poor weather the Co. Donegal venue had over the weekend.
There was a good trade for the factory and butcher lambs with these lots selling from €2.03-2.18/kg and €1.94-2.10/kg respectively.
The trade for cast ewes also remained good with the hammer falling on the stronger of these lots €90-121 each.