The demand for heavy lambs coming up to the Christmas period was noted by the mart manager at Ballymote Mart in the north-west of the country recently.
David Faughnan of Ballymote Mart spoke to Agriland regarding the most recent sheep sale at the Co. Sligo mart, and also reflected on how the last 12 months of operations.
While he said that sheep coming into the sale were “getting scarce”, Faughnan said there was a good trade for store lambs as he said they were fetching good prices for farmers, with a top-price of €157/head reached for a lamb at the sale.
These stores in particular were ones bought by farmers in September for fattening, who are choosing to sell them on now.
Faughnan said that there were buyers who were “looking for the factory lamb” at the sale, keen to secure a heavier lamb.
Ahead of the final sheep sale of 2023 at Ballymote Mart next week, Faughnan urged farmers to get their heavier lambs to the mart, and added that there are buyers looking for these lambs for the Christmas market.
These lambs, according to Faughan, when killed, would then be available for “Christmas week and the new year”.
Sheep sale
The sheep sale held at Ballymote Mart on Tuesday, December 5 had a full clearance, with the 330 lambs on offer at the mart on the day all selling.
Lamb prices:
- 40kg made €114;
- 34kg sold for €102;
- A 38kg lamb sold for €114;
- 51kg made €156;
- 59kg sold for €155;
- 48kg sold for €148;
- A 53kg lamb at the sale had the top price of €157.
Cull ewe prices:
- 74kg sold for €148;
- A 90kg cull ewe made €140;
- 58kg made €90.
There was a range of 40 cull ewes at the sale, all of which were sold.
Breeding ewes
There were 10 breeding sheep that were in three lots at the sale, two of which sold for €130/head and the other for €142/head.
These ewes had just gone to the ram and would be expected to lamb in April.
Ballymote Mart
He commented on the sheep that were at the latest sale, and said that “any housed lambs were in good condition”.
The mart manager did add that while some lambs were heavy coming into the mart, they could have benefitted from extra feeding as it was “the lambs that had the extra bit of meat of them made the most” at the sale.
Faughnan said that lambs coming in at 48kg would be making €146 that had not received meal.
He said that it was clear to see the lambs that had received meal, as they were the ones weighing 50kg that were making €154-157.
Reflecting on the sheep trade in 2023, the Ballymote Mart manager said it was “fairly good all year”.
Faughnan commented on the store lamb trade and how it “kept up well” towards the end of the year.
“They were a good trade with us all through the back end.”
He also added that farmers did not use as much meal for their lambs in 2023, and said while “farmers didn’t do much spending on them… they still got paid for it”.
The Ballymote Mart manager did notice a trend this year that he expected to see continue into 2024, and that was to see farmers planning their lambing period for later than they used to.
“People who were lambing in December/January are nearly moved to March/April,” as he explained the days are longer and the feed expenses during the winter would be lessened for ewes without lambs.