Tullow Livestock Sales held its weekly sheep trade at Tullow Mart, Co. Carlow, on Tuesday (July 14) where 1,500 sheep went through the ring, as the positive trade price continues.

The sale was described to Agriland as "tremendous" with the lamb trade seeing larger numbers than previous weeks.

Butcher type lambs, weighing between 48kg and 54kg sold for €200-233/lamb, with the lambs "flesh" being noted as of significant interest to buyers.

"Heavier fleshier" sheep were met with strong demand at the sale.

This comes off the back of factories announcing that sheep prices are holding at approximately €9.00/kg for the week.

This will undoubtedly be welcome news as recent cuts had sparked concern that the trade was beginning to slow after a powerful spring and early summer trade.

Factory lambs, weighing between 47kg and 50kg on the day of the sale, sold for €190-268/lamb.

This is a significant increase from the top call at last week's trade sale of €202/head, and an indicator of the level of demand from factory agents and wholesalers.

Store lambs, weighing 39-42kg sold for between €150 and €170 per lamb. Lighter type store lambs ranging from 35kg to 39kg in weight, sold for €120-140/head.

24 store lambs weighing on average 41kg each, sold for €157/head equivalent to €3.83/kg.

Ewes at Tullow

Cast ewes saw lighter feeding types fetching €188-€226/head, with the top call up from last week's price of €200.

Feeding type ewes saw a top call of €279/head with trade holding steady for these ewes.

10 cast ewes weighing on average 94kg each, sold for €279/head or €2.97/kg;
18 cast ewes weighing on average 84kg each, sold for €228/head or €2.71/kg;
Three cast ewes weighing on average 91kg each, sold for €346/head or €3.80/kg.

The breeding ewe trade saw hoggets fetching €270-€370/head. Hoggets also experienced uplifts in trade compared to last week.

Aged ewes sold for €250-290/head with no significant change from last week's trade.

Tullow Mart holds weekly sheep sales every Tuesday as well as weekly cattle sales every Friday.