The cull ewe trade looks to have taken a dip at many marts this week, with prices for heavy fleshed ewes seeing the biggest ease in prices.
Highs of €180-190/head, and even over the €200 mark, are becoming extremely scarce.
In saying that, a few marts reported prices of up to €180 for heavy ewes, but again in isolated cases.
The bulk of those 90kg plus ewes are moving at prices back as far as €120/head, and up as far as €160-170/head, with top-quality fleshed ewes hitting €180 in places.
80-89kg ewes are generally selling from the €100/head mark, and making up to €130-135/head.
In saying that, overall the cull ewe trade remains solid, with prices for the lighter ewes this week that bit stronger at sales.
Spring lambs and hoggets
Despite factories trying to put downward pressure on prices this week, the mart trade for spring lambs and hoggets has remained solid.
Mart managers are still reporting prices up to €180-185/head, and even more for good-quality fleshed spring lambs.
In general, prices for fleshed lambs in excess of 46kg are ranging from €155-175/head (on average and dependent on quality).
Lighter lambs in the 40-43kg range at sales this week are working out a better trade in some cases, with prices reaching as high as €170/head for 43kgs, as seen at one mart in the east of the country.
The general run of prices for these lambs (40-43kg) are running from €140/head up to €160-165/head, with excellent quality lots hitting €170/head in cases.
Hogget numbers at marts continue to dwindle, and with that, quality becomes more variable – as does the price.
Any good-quality, fleshed hoggets that are 48kg plus, are generally continuing to sell well, with prices ranging from €160-180/head on average.
The mart remains a very strong outlet for farmers who have stock ready to market and are facing into a brick wall with factories on price.