“Heavy lambs are dearer by €18-20/head than this time last year,” according to Tom Potterton of Delvin Mart.
The mart held its weekly sheep sale on Thursday last (December 3), which saw a large number of factory and butcher lambs on offer. A couple of pens of stores along with a few lots of cull ewes were also presented for sale on the day.
Speaking to AgriLand about the trade on the day, Tom said: “There was a good entry of lambs for the time of year.
“Those heavy butcher and factory lambs were in high demand, with prices breaking the €130/head mark on a couple of occasions.
Those fat lambs are €18-20/head dearer than this time last year. There is fantastic demand for them factory and butcher lambs, as well stores too – but we didn’t have many of them on Thursday.
“We had a full clearance on the day, with a top price of €133/head being achieved for a pen of butcher lambs weighing 56kg.
“There has been a really strong selling trade these past few weeks, in particular for those fleshed lambs, and it is great to see.
“Bids were flying in both online and at ringside on Thursday for those finished lambs. The majority of those heavy lambs made between €127/head and €133/head, while the factory lambs made from €108/head up to €123/head.”