On Monday (May 31), Agriland made the trip down to Kilkenny Mart to cast an eye over the mart’s sheep sale.

A big show of sheep was on offer on the day – up on 600 head – with the trade back for both lambs and cull ewes.

A pull in factory prices on Monday could be seen at the sale, with factory agents taking a more cautious approach and not willing to budge on prices, when it became clear that some sellers weren’t prepared to sell at what was being offered on the table.

The witty George Candler oversaw the sale, which he said was a very big sale of sheep to see at the mart.

Lambs make up to €164/head at Kilkenny

Looking at the trade in more detail, starting with the lambs, the majority on offer weighed 40-53kg, with only a handful of lambs less than 40kg on offer.

Lambs over 50kg generally made from €159/head, up to a tops of €164/head for 53kg.

47-49kg lambs traded from €157/head, up to a high €163/head for a pen of 48kg and 49kg lambs.

43-46kg lambs sold on average from €148/head, up to €161/head for five weighing 46kg.

40-42kg lambs exchanged hands from €135/head up to €150/head for 13 weighing 42kg.

The lightest lambs on offer at Kilkenny Mart yesterday weighed 39kg and sold for €136/head.

Cull ewes and ewes with lambs at foot

An easing of the trade was also seen for cull ewes at Kilkenny Mart yesterday morning, with prices in particular for heavy ewes, seeing the biggest fall.

Ewes over 90kg sold up to a tops of €162/head. The majority of the ewes on the day weighed between 80kg and 88kg.

Ewes weighing 86-89kg generally sold from €146/head up to €156/head. While 80-84kg ewes made from €124/head up to €147/head.

Store ewes sold back to €66/head for 61kg.

One lot of ewes with lambs at foot were the last to enter the ring at Kilkenny on Monday, which comprised four ewes with five lambs at foot and sold for €190/unit (pictured below).