Tullow Livestock Sales held its weekly sheep sale at Tullow Mart on Tuesday (August 11), seeing some positive trading despite challenging conditions.

The sheep sale saw the heavier lamb trade take a hit as factory agents were less active this week compared to previous weeks, according to mart sale report.

This comes on the back of factory quotes being cut by up to 20c/kg for this week.

Butcher lambs weighing from 50kg upwards sold from €186-€208/head.

Factory lambs weighing from 45-48kg on the day saw prices from €178-€196/head at €3.95-€4.10/kg.

Store lambs ranging in weight from 36-44kg sold from €130-€220/head. These lambs fetched from €3.55-€3.70/kg.

Despite the weather conditions ensuring grass is all but gone on most farms, the store trade remained relatively strong as farmers with midseason lambs come on the market.

Lighter-type store lambs ranging in weight from 28-35kg sold for €90-€135/head. The price per kg ranged from €3.21-€3.85.

Cast ewes

The cast ewe trade saw lighter ewes sold from €120-€190/head while heavier ewes sold from €190-€320/head at €2.80-€3.10/kg.

Below are some sample prices for cast ewes on the day:

A pen of nine cast ewes weighing on average 97kg sold for €314/head, equivalent to 3.24/kg.
A pen of six cast ewes weighing on average 93kg, sold for €300/head fetching 3.23/kg.

The strong cast ewe trade brings positive news for farmers as it follows on from factories maintaining prices for cast ewes, which will help create confidence in the strength of the trade.

Breeding ewes

In the breeding ewe section, lambs sold for between €190-€220/head.

Hoggets fetched from €260-€320/head, while aged ewes ranged from €210-€310/head.

A pen of 10 hogget ewes sold for €315/head while a single hogget ram sold for €420.

A pen of five ewes between two and three years-of-age sold for €310/head.

Rams

Rams on the day sold from €270-€420/head.

15 Suffolk-cross ram lambs weighing on average 35kg sold for €148/head at €4.23/kg.

A pen of 24 ram lambs weighing on average 52kg sold for €208/head at €4.00/kg.