Tullow Mart hosted its weekly sheep sale on Tuesday last (January 12), with Eric Driver, the mart’s manager, reporting a strong entry of over 2,000 sheep.
Eric reported a stronger trade at Tuesday’s sale, with prices up across the board on the previous week.
Here’s what he had to say: “The trade was improved by €2-3/head across the board, especially for those heavy lambs/hoggets.
“Starting with the heavy lambs, weighing above 46kg, they sold from €140/head up to a tops of €149/head. A very active trade was witnessed for them well-fleshed types, with the majority selling for €142-145/head.
Light stores, 37-39kg, sold from €110-116/head, with select lots, particularly ewe lambs, breaking the €120/head mark.
“Forward stores, in the 40-43kg bracket, traded from €122/head up to a tops of €134-35, while 44-45kg lambs pushed out to the €140/head mark.
Picture taken prior to Covid-19
“Cast ewes were a brighter trade again on Tuesday, store ewes, particularly those younger ewes that scanned empty, making up to €20-25 with the kilo.
“Heavy cull ewes made up to a top price of €142/head and regularly sold from €130/head upwards, with plenty of customers for those types.
“In the brood ring, we had a very large entry, with a dispersal sale of in-lamb ewes. They sold to an average of €195/head, scanned with 1.8 lambs, and are due to lamb from the middle of February onwards.
There was a very active trade for those in-lamb ewes, with some aged ewes [full and broken-mouthed] making €150/head upwards – scanned with 1.5 lambs.
“Lastly, ewes with lambs at foot, full-mouthed ewes with twin lambs at foot [two weeks-of-age] sold up to a tops of €280/unit.
“Full-mouthed ewes with single lambs at foot made up to €220/unit. All in all, it was a very large sale, with a full clearance achieved across the board.”
Picture taken prior to Covid-19