Spring lambs witnessed an improved trade at Cahir Mart on Tuesday (May 10), where prices reached a high of €174/head.
Agriland made the trip down to the Co. Tipperary-based mart to see what the trade was like in a sale that saw about 1,100 sheep on offer.
Numbers of spring lambs were relatively small at the sale, but the ones that were on offer were met with good demand from factory agents.
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.
Prices for lambs weighing 43kg or more sold above the €160/head mark, reaching up to €170-174/head.
The lightest spring lambs on the day weighed 34.5kg and sold for €126/head.
A firm showing of hoggets was on offer at Cahir on Tuesday, with a mix of stores and heavier types on offer.
Fleshed hoggets generally sold from over €160/head up to €167-169/head. Stores sold back to €80/head for Blackface Mountain hogget ewes weighing 30kg.
Cull ewes were a lively trade, with prices at Cahir breaking the €200/head mark on more than one occasion. The top price went to a 118kg ewe selling for €213. Heavy ewes generally sold from €170/head upwards.
Ewes in the 70-80kg weight bracket made from just over €130/head, up to nearly €168/head for 82kg ewes.
A strong entry of ewes with lambs at foot were the last into the ring at Cahir on Tuesday and these were met with good demand from farmers.
Prices topped €250/unit for a three-year-old ewe with two lambs at foot, with other sample prices, including €214 for a four-year-old ewe with one lamb and a pen of four aged-Blackface Mountain ewes with five lambs, making €132/unit.