Clare Co-Operative Marts held its weekly sheep sale in Ennis Mart on Monday (August 17), with 560 sheep through the ring as numbers fell back on last week's trade.

A mart report issued after the sale noted that lambs presented were "short of flesh", with this being the primary driver behind the reduction in prices.

Ennis Mart's Gerry Finnerty confirmed to Agriland that the shortage of grass was playing a significant role.

He said: "There's a lot of limestone land and that's all burnt."

The butcher and wholesale lamb trade is showing signs of slowing, with the report stating: "€200 is hard got now."

11 lambs weighing on average 51kg, sold for €202/head at €3.96/kg. A pen of 10 lambs weighing on average 54kg sold for €190/head at €3.51/kg.

Factory lambs were also back this week, which comes in the wake of another significant reduction to lamb quotes from factories, with cuts of up to 30c/kg reported.

Some sample lamb prices from Ennis Mart include:

A pen of 17 lambs weighing on average 48kg sold for €184/head at €3.83/kg;
A pen of 20 lambs weighing on average 45kg sold for €162/head at €3.60/kg;
A pen of 14 lambs weighing on average 49kg sold for €170/head at €3.46/kg;
A pen of 10 lambs weighing on average 42kg sold for €154/head at €3.66/kg;
A pen of 10 lambs weighing on average 45kg sold for €156 at €3.46/kg.

Regarding store lambs, a pen of four lambs weighing on average 39kg sold for €134/head at €3.43/kg.

Another pen of seven store lambs weighing on average 38kg sold for €132/head at €3.47/kg.

Ewes and hoggets

There was also a good entry of cull ewes and these fetched an average of €2.05/kg.

The top call for a cull ewe went for a 98kg ewe sold for €236 at 2.41/kg.

Other notable sales from the ewe ring included the €220/head paid for a pen of four cull ewes weighing on average 92kg, equivalent to €2.39/kg.

Another pen of seven ewes weighing on average 74kg made €174/head at €2.35/kg.

The mart also saw a handful of breeding hoggets that made up to €315/head.

A small number of rams also went on sale, with these making up to €220/head.