On Thursday last (October 8) AgriLand made the trip over to Loughrea Mart’s weekly sheep sale.

The majority of the sale consisted of factory and butcher-type lambs. There was also a considerable showing of forward-type store lambs, that were met with the best trade on the day.

While a selection of cull ewes, breeding ewes and hoggets made up the rest of the sale, a near full clearance was reported by the mart’s auctioneer.

Firstly, looking at the butcher lambs, these types generally made from €101/head up to a tops of €112/head. Butcher lambs were in shorter supply in comparison to more factory-fit (43-48kg) lambs. In general, finished lambs sold from €93/head up to €110/head.

Note: Under each picture are details of each lot, including the sale price.

This pen of Suffolk lambs weighing 44kg sold for €110/head

42-44kg lambs generally made from €94/head up to the €100/head mark, except for two standout pens of Suffolk lambs weighing 43kg and 44kg that sold for €109/head and €110/head respectively.

Well-fleshed 44-48kg lambs generally sold from €100/head up to €110/head.

This pen of forward-store lambs weighing 41kg sold for €92/head

There was a nice selection of forward-type store lambs (39-42kg) on offer. These lots, along with slightly lighter stores, were the standout trade on the day.

In general, those forward-type store lambs traded from €92/head up to €95/head. Factory agents were quick to swoop for any of those types of lots that had a nice cover of flesh on them.

This pen of store lambs weighing 37kg went under the hammer for €85.50/head

There were no real light stores on offer (under 35kg). Lambs weighing 36-39kg generally sold from €85.50/head up to €92/head.

This pen of lambs weighing 52.3kg sold for €111/head

Sample lamb prices:

  • 45kg: €101.50/head;
  • 42kg: €100/head (ewe lambs);
  • 48.5kg: €110.50/head;
  • 39.7kg: €92/head;
  • 41.3kg: €93.50/head;
  • 53.7kg: €111/head;
  • 41kg: €94.50/head;
  • 47.2kg: €105/head.

This pen of lambs weighing 43.4kg sold for €109/head

Cull ewes

There were only a couple of pens of stag ewes on offer at last Thursday’s sale. The majority of which were more forward-feeding types, with a couple of lots well-fleshed.

Prices for cull ewes ranged from €89/head up to a top call of €123/head.

Hoggets and breeding ewes

Again, similar to the cast ewes, there wasn’t a big entry of hoggets. At this stage of the year, the majority of farmers will have bought what breeding sheep they will have wanted.

In saying that, prices of up to €175/head were achieved for Suffolk-type hoggets.

In general, prices for these lots ranged from €134/head for smaller, plainer-quality hoggets up to €173-175/head for larger-framed, nicer-quality types.

There was only a small selection of breeding ewes on offer. Prices for these lots ranged from €127/head up to €133/head.

This lot of hoggets sold for €175/head