The cull ewe trade continues to amaze with no let up in demand or prices this past week, as marts report prices breaching the €300/head mark.

Prices across the board for ewes of all weight categories are performing very strongly, with heavy ewes standing out more with their eye-catching prices.

It’s not just the odd heavy ewe here and there that’s making prices up to nearly €300/head, with mart managers saying that batches of heavy ewes are selling up close to the €300/head mark as well.

With one example coming from Tullow Mart last week, which saw a lot of 10 Texel-cross ewes, weighing on average 104kg, selling for €296/head.

Mart managers are also reporting strong numbers of cull ewes coming through sales rings, with farmers looking to make the most of the strong trade being seen currently.

Ewes in excess of 90-95kg have been selling freely at and above €200/head at sales this past week, with many moving at prices from €210-270/head and starting from a base of €190-200/head.

This cull ewe sold for €314 at Cootehill Mart last Thursday

Ewes in the 80-89kg weight bracket have also been selling for prices in excess of €200/head and up as high as €240/head, with prices starting from a base of €160-170/head for these ewes.

Ewes in the 70-80kg bracket have been trading from €120-130/head up to €160-170/head on average, with any fleshed lowland-bred ewe generally selling above €100/head at marts.

These three cull ewes weighing from 100-140kg sold for €230-284/head at Enniscorthy Mart on Wednesday