Its been the story of the last few weeks but cull ewe prices continue to shine and have hit as high as €225 at marts this past week.

Tullow Mart saw cull ewe prices top €225/head with Ballinasloe Mart, which Agriland visited during the week, and Carnew Mart witnessing prices for those fleshed ewes hitting €220/head.

Marts are reporting good entries of cull ewes of all weight categories and there is no shortage demand across the board for all kinds of ewes, mart managers have said, with both light and heavy types sought after.

Many marts have reported prices pushing or breaking the €200/head mark this week for 95kg plus ewes, with ewes over 100kg generally the ones making at and above €200.

These two ewes weighing 103kg sold for €220 each at Ballinasloe Mart during the week

Ewes weighing over 95kg have been generally starting from a base of €190-195/head.

Ewes weighing 87-95kg have generally been making upwards of €160-170/head at marts and pushing up to €185-195/head mark.

Ewes weighing back to 80-86kg weight bracket have generally been selling from €130/head up to €160/head, with 70-80kg ewes trading from a base of €100/head and selling up to high of €130-140/head.

Ewes selling below €80-90 are few and are confined to mainly aged poor-quality ewes lacking condition or hill-bred ewes.