Tullow Mart witnessed a very strong trade across the board this week, (Tuesday, November 23) which saw lamb prices top €170/head and cull ewes to €224/head.
The mart’s manager, Eric Driver spoke to Agriland after the sale to give a rundown on the trade.
He explained: “We had a very large sale at Tullow on Tuesday with over 1,800 sheep on offer – with the trade holding very strong after some turbulence over the weekend regarding factory prices.
“But, in saying that, butchers and factory agents were equally as active as the previous Tuesday.
“Looking at the trade, lambs over 50kg sold from €158/head up to a tops of €170/head, with the majority selling from €162/head up to €166/head.
“Lambs north of 47kg traded from €154/head up to €166/head. Again a differential in price there, but also in the quality especially for the good ewe and wether lambs, with lots of flesh in those lambs in high demand.
“Moving to the store lambs, firstly the lighter stores, 30-35kg lambs sold from €100/head up to a tops of €128/head for 33kg lambs.
“35-40kg lambs sold from €125/head up to €140/head, with the ewe and wether lambs pulling away from the ram lambs and, therefore, creating this price differential being seen.
“Forward stores in the 40-45kg weight bracket were very much in demand and made from €132/head up to €145/head depending on flesh cover.
“Moving onto the cull ewe trade, there was an exceptional trade for those heavy ewes with prices coming back to the highs seen earlier this year.
“One pen of 12 Suffolk-cross ewes weighing 100kg sold for a top call of €224/head.
“Lots of those heavy ewes, weighing 90-100kg, sold from €160/head up to €180/head. The good store feeding ewe traded from €30-40 with the kilo, with lighter broken-mouthed feeding ewes selling from €10-20 with the kilo, with the more genuine feeders making from €20-30 with the kilo.
“Next week we have a special sale of 50-in lamb ewes scanned carrying 2.0 lambs and due from January first to a pedigree Charollais ram alongside our weekly sale of lambs and cull ewes,” he concluded.