On Saturday, March 12, Mountbellew Mart held its weekly sale of sheep which saw cull ewe prices top out at €230 for a 100kg ewe.
Mountbellew, like many other marts across the country, have been witnessing a very strong trade for cull ewes in recent weeks and the €200 mark was breached on more than one occasion last Saturday at the Galway-based mart.
Furthermore, an improved trade was seen for hoggets with prices reaching a high of €168.
Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture. Refer to each caption to see details of each lot, including the hammer price.
Looking at the trade for cull ewes, ewes over 100kg sold for over €200 and made up to €230.
Ewes in the 90-99kg weight bracket sold from €184/head up to €199/head.
80-89kg culls generally traded from just over the €150/head mark up to €185/head. While 70-79kg ewes sold from just under €110/head up to nearly €155/head.
A few pens of 61-69kg ewes made some very strong prices of between €130/head up to €145/head with lots in the same weight bracket selling back to close to €100/head.
Hoggets witnessed an improved trade on the day with prices topping €168/head. Many of the hoggets weighing over 50kg sold from €151/head up to €160/head, with prices above this level confined to 60kg plus hoggets.
Furthermore, hoggets in the 47-49kg weight bracket generally hit the €150/head mark or just under or below it.
Forward stores made from €132/head up to €146/head, with longer keep stores generally selling from €90/head up to €130/head.
A good showing of ewes with lambs at foot were on offer with a mix of light and strong lambs on offer with prices reaching a high of €300/unit.