Lambs/hoggets were easier by €10/head on last week’s sale according to Loughrea Mart’s manager, Jimmy Cooney.
On the day, a strong number of fleshed hoggets were on offer, while there was a small selection of cull ewes and ewes with lambs at foot as well.
Speaking about the trade, Jimmy said: “Despite the strong numbers on offer, the appetite just didn’t seem to be there like the previous week for the hoggets and cull ewes.
“Last week hoggets hit a high of €151/head, while this week it was back to €140/head. Now in saying that, it was still a good trade for the time of year, but you could see sellers were a little disappointed after the prices they saw the previous week.
You could say hogget prices were easier by €10/head. It was going to be hard to top last week’s sale. In general, you saw their yourself, the tops of the fat hoggets made from €131-139/head – for those weighing in excess of 50kg.
“Then anything weighing from 45-49kg sold from €120/head up to €132/head. The lightest hoggets, in the 40-42kg category, generally traded from €100/head up to €116/head.
“There wasn’t a great appetite for those heavy cull ewes. Last week the top prices for well-fleshed ewes was €124/head, whereas this week they were only making €105-107/head.
“Hopefully, going forward to next week that the trade doesn’t drop any further and that we can keep it to at least where it was on Thursday,” Jimmy concluded.