Long-keep stores were not as hot a trade at Kingscourt Mart on Monday (December 14) according to mart spokesperson, Nigel Gilmer.
Heavy, well-fleshed lambs continue to be a good trade at the Cavan-based mart, with both butchers and factory agents very active and keen to get a hold of numbers, according to Nigel.
300 sheep were on offer on Monday in what was the last sheep sale of the year for the mart.
Speaking to AgriLand about the trade on Monday Nigel said: “The trade on Monday for those heavy lambs and forward stores was much the same as to what we had been seeing over the last number of weeks.
However, the trade for those lighter, long-keep stores wasn’t as hot as previous weeks. It might be just a case where farmers have bought what stores they want for the year or the bad weather might also be a factor.
“Another factor might be the fact that some buyers are wary about paying too much for them real light stores and then having to go home and feed them and not knowing how much they will get for them when the time comes to send them to the factory into the new year because who knows what way the trade will be then?
“To give you an idea of what those light stores made, lambs in around the 30kg bracket sold for €74-75/head, while I saw one pen of 33kg lambs selling for €79/head. Over the last few weeks, those lambs were making a good bit more than that.
Also Read: Sheep trade: 30c/kg difference in base price for lambs opens up between factories“The lambs that were on offer on Monday that were finished or just needed a bit more feeding were a flying trade which has been the case for quite a while.
Looking at those forward store lambs, a couple of good prices were 38kg making €99/head and 42kg selling for €115/head.
“Factory lambs in the 46-48kg bracket generally made from €120-125/head. I saw a pen of slightly lighter factory lambs weighing 44kg making €118/head. So, overall the trade for those finished and heavy lambs was very strong.”