Finished lamb prices have once again seen an improvement at marts throughout the week, with prices reaching €170/head and even more in cases.
One mart manager in the southeast of the country called lamb prices to be stronger this week by €5-8/head.
These increases in the live trade would have been aided by factory prices once again, pushing on this week, with lamb prices now rising over €7.00/kg and producers now pushing returns of up to €7.20-7.30/kg.
Finished lamb prices in detail
Looking at the mart trade in more detail, prices for well-fleshed lambs over 50kg are making from €150/head up to €165/head in general – in isolated cases, prices for these lambs have reached and exceeded €170/head.
Moreover, 47-49kg lambs are pushing over the €150/head mark up to €152-158/head and selling back to €146-148/head.
44-46kg lambs have generally been selling from just under the €140/head mark up to €145/head, and even as high as €150-152/head.
Forward stores in the 39-43kg weight range have been trading from €118-140/head.
While long-keep stores, in the main, have been starting from €70-75/head for hill-type lambs and making up to €110-118/head for lowland lambs.
There hasn’t been much movement in the cull ewe trade this week to make note of.
Prices for well-fleshed ewes have generally been ranging from €140/head up to €160/head, with prices in cases, rising to €180/head.
Light store ewes have been making from as far back as €60/head up to €125-135/head.