Speaking to mart managers during the week, the majority have come back saying lamb prices are “well up, with factory agents extremely keen for lambs”.
Factory prices strengthened this past week, as they did the previous week, with top deals for lambs reaching €6.40/kg.
One mart manager over in the west claimed lamb prices were up €8-9/head on the previous week, with factory agents showing a strong appetite for lambs and buying up what suitable lambs they could at the sale.
Factory agents have been seen to pay up just over €140/head for well-fleshed lambs this week; however, in the main, prices for those finished lambs have been ranging from €118/head up to €132-134/head and in some cases pushing to €137-138/head.
These heavier lambs are also peaking the interest of butchers who have been pushing prices over the €140/head mark for 50kg plus lambs.
The store lamb trade continues to strengthen at marts, with farmers there every week for both short and long-keep lambs.
Prices for those forward stores have been reaching as high as €116-118/head, with prices falling back between €104-110/head.
Lighter stores have been trading from €60-70/head for 25-28kg lambs up to €100-104/head for lambs weighing 36-38/kg.
Ewe lambs remain in good demand, with prices topping sales between €140/head and €155/head for 50kg plus lambs this past week.
Furthermore, a resurgence in the hogget ewe trade has been seen at some sales, with a couple of mart managers noting a firmer demand among farmers for hoggets.
€170/head up to €200/head seems to be the general run of prices for nice-quality hoggets, with top prices at sales reaching anywhere from €220/head up to €235/head. Plainer lots have been seen to sell back to €130/head.