The trade for cull ewes was on fire at Athenry Mart yesterday (Monday, April 12), with prices breaching the €200 mark twice.
A strong entry of spring lambs was also seen, while hogget numbers were back, as supplies continue to tighten at sales.
Cull ewes
Looking at the cull ewe trade first, many of the 90kg plus ewes on offer yesterday, which was quite a few, sold for over €180/head generally, with the exception of a handful of pens which sold back to €168/head.
The two pens of ewes that sold at and breached the €200 mark were three at 113kg that sold for €200/head and four at 115kg that sold for€210.
Some prices very close to the €200 mark for 90kg plus ewes were also seen, with prices hitting €192-196/head on a couple of occasions.
85-89kg ewes generally sold from €144/head up to €176/head for 89kg. 80-84kg ewes generally made from €122/head up to €146/head for 84kg.
Ewes in the 70-79kg bracket traded from €104/head up to a high of €148/head. The lightest of the ewes on offer sold back to €52.
Spring lambs
A sharp trade was also seen for spring lambs at Athenry yesterday, with prices topping €196/head for 51kg.
Lambs weighing 45-48kg sold from €162/head up to €184/head, with three lots of lambs weighing 50-51kg making from €184/head up to €196/head.
40-44kg lambs made from €147/head up to €173/head in general. Lambs less than 40kg sold back to €105/head for 33kg.
Hoggets
Similar to cull ewes and spring lambs, an excellent trade was seen for hoggets, with prices reaching a high of €198/head for 63.5kg.
The majority of the hoggets on offer were 50kg plus, with the rest mainly made up of 45-48kg hoggets.
Hoggets over 49kg, on average, made from €170/head up to €190/head.
Meanwhile, 45-48kg lots traded from €157/head up to €175/head for 47kg.
A handful of 39-44kg hoggets were on offer and prices for these lots ranged from €112/head up to €145/head.