On Wednesday (February 9) Enniscorthy Mart held its weekly sale of sheep, which saw a positive trade all round.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, the mart’s manager, Kevin Murphy, gave a rundown of the trade on the day.
He said: “It was a good-sized sale for the time of the year and a large part of the sale was made up of heavy hoggets.
“The trade remains much the same as last week, with plenty of buyers looking for hoggets. There was also a good number of recently scanned, empty ewes on offer.
“Overall, a very positive trade was seen. Despite the big entry of heavy hoggets on offer, the demand remains strong.
“Wholesale butcher buyers clashed with factory agents for the fleshier and better conformed lots. Prices ranged from €153/head up to €160/head, or from €100 to €106 over their weight.”
Sample heavy lamb prices:
- 11 at 54kg sold for €160/head;
- 12 at 55kg sold for €157/head;
- Nine at 51kg sold for €156/head;
- Eight at 52kg sold for €156/head;
- 15 at 56kg sold for €156/head;
- 30 at 56kg sold for €155/head;
- 10 at 50kg sold for €154/head.
“There was a good entry of factory hoggets as well and they were making from €147/head for nine hoggets at 45kg, selling up to €155/head for eight hoggets at 48kg. All of which were bought by factory agents who are still keen for hoggets,” Kevin added.
Sample factory lamb prices:
- Eight at 48kg sold for €155/head;
- 18 at 48kg sold for €153/head;
- Eight at 49kg sold for €153/head;
- 12 at 49kg sold for €152/head;
- Nine at 44kg sold for €148/head;
- 12 at 45kg sold for €148/head.
“Store hoggets are becoming increasingly scarce, but still a good demand as the big feeders replace those they have already slaughtered,” Kevin said.
Sample store hogget prices:
- Eight at 40kg sold for €140/head;
- Eight at 40kg sold for €137/head;
- 11 at 37kg sold for €131/head;
- Four at 35kg sold for €129/head;
- 13 at 30kg sold for €116/head;
- 12 at 33kg sold for €116/head.
“There wasn’t as many heavy culls on offer as recent weeks, and there is a massive demand for those heavy ewes,” said Kevin.
Sample heavy cull ewe prices:
- Seven at 87kg sold for €176/head;
- Two at 85kg sold for €164/head;
- Four at 90kg sold for €161/head;
- 12 at 83kg sold for €150/head.
Sample store cull ewe prices:
- 12 at 79kg sold for €138/head;
- Seven at 77kg sold for €134/head;
- Eight at 71kg sold for €120/head;
- Five at 72kg sold for €117/head;
- Six at 75kg sold for €110/head;
- Five at 63kg sold for €98/head.
“Lastly, there was a small entry of good, strong, full-mouthed ewes with lambs at foot on offer, and these peaked at €265/unit for four ewes with twins at foot,” Kevin said.
“The lowest price on the day was €235/unit for four full-mouthed ewes with singles at foot. There are plenty of buyers looking for these that didn’t get to buy as the numbers on offer were small.”
