Heavy cull ewes remained the pick of the trade at marts this past week, while hoggets eased in price and the rest on offer was, mostly, a steady trade.
Some mart managers have noted numbers creeping back, particularly in the case of hoggets, which is a typical trend seen at this stage of the year.
Overall, spring lambs are remaining a steady trade at marts, with prices typically exceeding no more than €170/head for well-fleshed types, except in some cases.
In such cases, prices have risen to €175-180/head for 50kg plus lambs that are being snapped up by butchers.
In the main, those 45kg plus lambs have been selling from as base of €158/head up to €170/head, with quality 43-44kg lots even selling over the €165/mark.
Lambs at 38-40kg and over have been selling from a base of €140/head, in general.
Hoggets have seen a steady, maybe even a small bit easier, trade this week, with prices generally failing to exceed €167-168/head.
The quality of hoggets is becoming more variable and this is being reflected in prices being paid out by factory agents.
Prices for those 50kg plus hogget have fallen back to a base of €148–152/head and they have been making up to generally €165-168/head.
The trade for heavy cull ewes, as mentioned, remains the brightest, with prices for well-fleshed ewes in excess of 95kg continuing to sell to highs of €220-240/head.
The general run of prices for those fleshed ewes weighing 85-95kg is running from €155-200/head.
Ewes with lambs at foot remain in good demand. Ewes with one lamb at foot have been trading from €130/unit up to €200-210/unit, with some marts reporting prices of €220-260/unit for hogget ewes with strong single lambs at foot.
Ewes with two lambs at foot have generally been starting from €170-180/unit up to highs of €260-280/unit and in cases, breaking the €300 mark.