'Online buyers were very active for stores and really drove the trade on'

A strong presence of online buyers drove the store trade on at Friday’s sheep sale at Dowra Mart, according to Terry McGovern.

Despite buyers able to return ringside or ‘penside’ which is the case for the sheep sale at Dowra Mart, online buyers remained very active, especially in the case of store lambs.

Of the 600 stores on offer, half of them sold to online buyers, with Terry noting that prices were stronger for those lots than the previous week.

He explained: “We had a good sale on Friday. There were 1,200 sheep on offer, which is a big sale for us at this stage of the year.

The standout trade was for the store lambs, with good competition both ringside and online for those lots.

“Prices for stores were definitely stronger than the previous week. Those forward store lambs made as much as €106-112/head last Friday.

“The butcher and factory lambs were a similar trade to the previous week. The tops of the heavy lambs made from €120/head up to a top price of €128.50/head. While the general run of factory lambs was €110/head up to €125/head.

“The buyers for the factory and butcher lambs were back around the pens again last week, with buyers for stores split between being at the mart and bidding online.”

Sample butcher and factory lamb prices:

Seven lambs weighing 51.5kg sold for €128.50 or €2.50/kg;
13 lambs weighing 50kg sold for €128.50/head or €2.57/kg;
24 lambs weighing 51.5kg sold for €128/head or €2.49/kg;
34 lambs weighing 48kg sold for €125/head or €2.60/kg;
16 lambs weighing 47.5kg sold for €123.50/head or €2.60/kg;
10 lambs weighing 46.5kg sold for €121/head or €2.60/kg;
18 lambs weighing 45.5kg sold for €117.50/head or €2.58/kg;
11 lambs weighing 44kg sold for €116.50/head or €2.65/kg;
22 lambs weighing 46kg sold for €115.50/head or €2.51/kg;
32 lambs weighing 46.5kg sold for €114.50/head or €2.46/kg.

Sample store lamb prices:

11 lambs weighing 39kg sold for €112/head or €3.23/kg;
12 lambs weighing 32.5kg sold for €105/head or €2.53/kg;
23 lambs weighing 42.5kg sold for €107.50/head or €2.53/kg;
14 lambs weighing 37kg sold for €104/head or €2.81/kg;
12 lambs weighing 39kg sold for €101/head or €2.59/kg;
15 lambs weighing 37kg sold for €98.50/head or €2.66/kg;
30 lambs weighing 35kg sold for €94/head or €2.69/kg;
Nine lambs weighing 32kg sold for €87/head or €2.72/kg;
20 lambs weighing 31.5kg sold for €86/head or €2.73/kg;
16 lambs weighing 30kg sold for €85.50/head or €2.85/kg.

‘Stores are at least €15/head dearer this year’

Terry said that he believes store lambs are a good €15/head, if not more, dearer than they were this time last year.

He noted: “The trade has been good all year, I can’t remember a bad sale. The stores have been a great trade all year. I’d say they are stronger by €15/head and even more in some cases.

The same can be said for the butcher and factory lambs. Prices are a good bit ahead on last year. Just looking back here on last year, those heavy butcher lambs were making up to €2.20/kg, whereas on Friday last, they made up to €2.50/kg.

“There’s a great demand for sheep at the minute. At this stage last year, we would have had only one line of fat lambs, whereas, last week, we had four lines.

“There are big numbers coming out at a time when they would usually be on the decline. Some farmers see better value in bringing their lambs to the mart instead of the factory and that’s a big reason for the increase in numbers I believe.”