Sheep marts: How are lambs and cull ewes faring at the mart?

From different areas across the country, Agriland takes a look at the current sheep trade as it stands in some livestock marts.

From cull ewes hitting €300/head at Ballymote, spring lambs fetching €235/head at Roscommon Mart, and heavy hoggets reaching €215/head at Blessington Mart, there were lively sales at sheep marts seen across the country this week.

Kilkenny Mart manager, George Candler, said that the recent trade for sheep has been “magic” for the “limited number of sheep” at sales.

He added that the sheep trade at marts is helped by the presence of factory agents, butchers, and exporters who were very anxious to secure ram lambs.

Ballymote Livestock Mart

At Aurivo Livestock Mart Ballymote in Co. Sligo, the trade for cull ewes topped at €300/head at the weekly sale held on Tuesday, May 21.

Ewes with lambs at foot made from €240 to €330 for a ewe with twins at foot.

Cull ewe at 144kg sold for €300 Source: Aurivo Livestock Mart Ballymote

sheep at marts — Cull ewe at 144kg sold for €300 Source: Aurivo Livestock Mart Ballymote

Prices for lambs topped at €260 for 57kg lambs.

Sales at Aurivo Livestock Mart Ballymote in Co. Sligo are every Tuesday evening at 6:30p.m.

Roscommon Mart

There was a smaller number of sheep on offer at the sale on Wednesday, May 22 at Roscommon Mart at the weekly sheep sale.

Prices for spring lambs made up to €235, while hoggets topped out at €225. The top prices for stag ewes fetched €275.

Sample prices from the sale are featured below:

Spring lambs:

50.5kg – €235 – €4.65/kg;
48kg – €227 – €4.73/kg;
46kg – €228 – €4.96/kg;
45.5kg – €219 – €4.81/kg;
42.8kg – €210 – €4.91/kg;
41.6kg – €134 – €3.22/kg.

Hoggets:

47kg – €225 – €4.79/kg;
47kg – €214 – €4.55/kg;
55.8kg – €200 – €3.58/kg;
45.5kg – €200 – €4.40/kg.

Cast ewes:

126kg – €275 – €2.18/kg;
110kg – €270 – €2.45/kg;
98kg – €240 – €2.45/kg;
95Kg – €218 – €2.29/kg;
89.5kg – €198 – €2.21/kg;
86Kg – €188 – €2.19/kg;
73.2kg – €176 – €2.40/kg.

Ewes with lambs:

Made from €188 to €354/lot.

Maam Cross Mart

At the weekly sale at Maam Cross Mart in Co. Galway on Saturday, May 18, the top price for hoggets was €180/head.

This was achieved by a 48kg ram hogget – a category which saw average prices from between €2.96/kg to a maximum of €3.75/kg.

Ewe hoggets ranged from €3.64/kg to a maximum of €4.09/kg, and a top price/head of €174 that was paid for five 46kg Suffolks.

Breeding ewes sold from €1.99/kg to a maximum of €2.83/kg, with a top price of €135 for a 56kg ewe.

Ewes with lamb at foot averaged €125/head to a maximum of €262 for four Texel ewes with four lambs.

Cull ewes averaged €1.76/kg to a maximum of €2.02/kg with the maximum price/head, reaching €165/head.

Blessington Mart

At Blessington Mart in Co. Wicklow on Tuesday, May 21, there was a lively trade for spring lambs reported, with the trade better €10 to €15 a head on last week, with the fat hogget trade remaining strong.