On Thursday (April 14), Agriland made the trip to Loughrea Mart to cast an eye over the trade at the mart’s sheep sale.
On the day, stronger demand was seen for cull ewes and hoggets, with spring lambs, not for the first time this year, from speaking to mart managers, the poor relation in the ring.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, the mart’ manager, Jimmy Cooney said: “The hoggets were a grand trade there today and made up to €168/head.
“Farmers are generally happy with the hogget trade and the prices cull ewes have been making has obviously been very good.
“However, on the other, the spring lambs, there isn’t much interest in them at the moment either from the butcher or the factory agents.
“The spring lamb trade has been disappointing for farmers who have fed them to get them ready early for the Easter market.
“We had a good few [spring lambs] last week but this week numbers were back, with prices roughly the same both weeks, with prices topping today at €168/head for 50kg spring lambs.
“While the cull ewes remain a very good trade, we had big numbers on offer on Thursday and all types were met with a good demand.”