An improved trade for lambs was seen once again at Loughrea Mart on Thursday (July 8) from the week before – with prices improving to the tune of €2-5/head.

A good entry of lambs was seen, with the majority consisting of heavy and factory-type lambs, with a couple of pens of forward store lambs also seen.

The mart’s manager, Jimmy Cooney, said that lamb prices continued to recover from the fall-off seen three weeks ago – when prices fell by €8-10/head.

While a mixed entry of both light and heavy ewes were met with a good demand.

Lamb trade

Looking at the lamb trade first and starting with the heavy lambs weighing over 48kg, prices ranged from €133/head up to a top price of €143/head – with the majority selling upwards of €137/head.

Factory agents were very keen to get their hands on suitable lambs and were prepared to drop down the weights to secure lambs.

Prices for factory-type lambs generally ranged from €115/head up to a top price of €131/head – with again, many selling from €123/head up to €128/head.

As mentioned, factory agents were willing to drop to 40kg for lambs; although, not every lamb of this weight attracted their interest, with only a couple of pens weighing 40-41kg possessing an adequate cover of flesh.

Other lambs weighing 40-41kg and back down to 39kg, that you would consider more forward-type stores, made from €99/head up to €109/head.

The lightest lambs on the day weighed 39.3kg and sold for €99/head.

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.

  • This pen of fleshed 50kg lambs sold for €139/head
  • Weighing 45.5kg, these lambs were snapped up at €128/head
  • One of the more impressive prices on the day was seen for these 41kg lambs that sold for €120/head
  • At 44.8kg, these 10 lambs went under the hammer at €126/head
  • This pen of 42kg lambs sold for €115/head
  • These three 46.3kg lambs sold at €128/head
  • The hammer fell on these 49.2kg lambs at €133/head
  • Another impressive price of €131/head was achieved for these 44kg lambs
  • Toppping the sale was this pen of 50.6kg lambs that sold for €143/head

Cull ewes top €158 at Loughrea

A mixed entry of both light and heavy ewes were seen at Loughrea Mart on Thursday.

The heaviest ewes on offer hit the scales at 91kg and sold for the highest price of the day at €158/head.

This top price was closely followed by another pen of heavy ewes, this time weighing 89kg and sold for a euro less at €157/head.

80-85kg ewes made from €128/head up to €144/head. After that, ewes weighing anywhere from the mid-60s to the mid-70s kilo range traded from €106/head up to €123/head.

The lightest ewe on offer weighed 53.5kg and sold for €74/head.

  • Topping the cull ewes was this pen of 91kg ewes that sold for €158/head
  • Weighing 84kg, theese two ewes sold for €139 a piece
  • At 72.5kg, these three ewes sold for €103/head
LOUGHREA MART SHEEP SALE