Mart report: Mixed trade in breeding sheep sale at Ballyjamesduff Mart
Ballyjamesduff Cooperative Livestock Mart in Co. Cavan hosted a special breeding sale of sheep on Tuesday evening (August 25) in conjunction with its regular weekly sheep sale.
There were two sale rings in action on the night, with factory and store lambs and cull ewes in one ring and breeding sheep in the other.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, mart manager John Tevlin said: "The sheep trade is back a bit on what it was; lamb prices are back as well.
"I suppose the grass situation wouldn't be helping, but any day you're getting €300 for breeders there's nothing wrong with it."
Commenting on the trade in the store lamb ring, the mart manager said: "The general sheep trade is back a little also.
"There's not just the same appetite this year for the store lambs, again going back to the grass."
He said that parts of the catchment area for the mart are burned up from the dry spell, but other parts are in a better position for grass growth.
Tevlin said: "We have two sides; some that have grass on heavier land but equally, you're short the other buyers with no grass in the drier areas.
"We're lucky in our catchment area that a lot of the farmers do have grass but nationally, the prices are back so it takes its toll here too.
"With rain arriving, it will help the trade for store lambs from now into the year end," he said.
Breeding hoggets traded at up to €300 and above in cases.
Tevlin said: "With the availability of hoggets, buyers were going for them more so than the ewe lambs."
Tevlin said that the older farmers were back sourcing replacements, while younger farmers at the sale were looking for select types of breeding sheep.
"You couldn't say there's a huge increase in people getting into sheep or anything like it.
"Everyone wants them but there's not too many that keen to do the work with them," he added.
He said that while farmers lambing ewes "have got money the last few years", farmers who are also working off farm are not as inclined to be lambing ewes.
According to Tevlin, there is a growing customer base for ewes with lambs at foot because of this, and added that there has been a premium paid for these type of entries in the last few years.
