A good lively trade was seen for all categories of lambs at Athenry Mart on Monday (June 14) – which saw prices top €170/head for 54kg lambs.
A solid trade was then seen for cull ewes, with prices back in places for some ewes on the previous week.
Agriland cast an eye over the Galway-based mart’s sale – which saw near 100 lots of sheep on offer across the board.
Lamb trade at Athenry
Looking at the lamb trade first, a strong entry was seen with over 70 pens on offer – with the majority of lambs consisting of factory types.
Looking at the trade for the butcher-type lambs, prices ranged from €155/head up to a tops, as already mentioned, of €170/head for 54kg.
Factory lamb prices ranged from as far back as €135/head, up to a high of €155/head for 47kg lambs.
In saying that, prices for lambs with a good cover of flesh started from €142/head generally, and worked up from there.
Factory agents were willing to go down the weights and compete for lambs that lacked adequate flesh cover, but that was seen in some of the prices paid out.
A couple of pens of store lambs were on offer on Monday and sold well. Prices ranged from €107/head up to €121/head for 36kg.
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.
Cull ewes sell up to €194/head
From speaking to farmers at Athenry Mart on Monday, many were of the opinion that the ewe trade was that bit quieter from the previous week, and the mart’s auctioneer, Terry Cooke was of the same opinion.
However, in saying that, some impressive prices were seen for ewes on the day – with a 122kg ewe topping the sale at €194.
The general run of prices for those 90kg plus ewes ran from €142/head up to a high, as mentioned of €194/head. Although, in the main, many of these types sold from €150/head to €160/head.
Ewes in the 85-89kg weight bracket generally made from €130/head up to €158/head.
The lightest ewes on offer at Athenry Mart weighed 67kg and sold for €82/head.