Sheep marts: Spring lamb trade bursts into life as prices break €200 mark -

The spring lamb trade burst into life last week, with top prices at sheep marts breaking the €200 mark.

The general run of top prices at sales last week for spring lambs varied quite a bit, but went from about €190/head up to €220/head at sales that saw a bustling trade.

While sales that still saw a very good trade for spring lambs but didn’t see the skyrocket prices that other sales saw, witnessed top prices from €170-185/head.

Prices that reached the €200 mark were seen at Kilkenny and Tullow Marts where prices topped €211/head and €214/head respectively.

However, it was Raphoe Mart that really and truly caught people’s attention where prices topped €282/head at the mart’s spring lamb show and sale.

Hogget trade at sheep marts

The hogget trade was steady again last week, although some sales reported a slight improvement in the trade, with top prices nearing the €180 mark in isolated cases.

Although in general, well-fleshed hoggets continued to trade from €160/head up to €170-175/head, with lesser-quality types selling back to €150/head.

Hoggets in the 47-49kg weight bracket continued to sell to a high of €170/head, but again, there is quite a bit of variation in prices paid out, similar to the 50kg plus hoggets.

In general, prices for 47-49kg hoggets were ranging from €150/head up to €170/head.

44-46kg hoggets have been selling at sheep marts over the past week, from €135/head up to a high of €160/head, again with quality playing a big factor in price.

40-43kg hoggets have been making from €120/head upwards to about €140/head, in general.

Cull ewes at sheep marts

The cull ewe trade continued in a very strong fashion last week, with heavy fleshed ewes (100kg plus) making close to the €200 mark once again.

Although, in general, prices for fleshed ewes, in excess of 90kg ranged from €140/head up to €190/head, with 80-89kg ewes making up to €150/head in cases, but in general, have been selling from €100/head up to €140/head, with quality and flesh-cover key determinants in prices paid.

Ewes with lambs

Ewes with lambs continue to be a good trade, with ewes with twin lambs continuing to break the €300/unit mark at some marts.

In general, ewes with twin lambs at foot have been making from €220/unit up to €280/unit this past week, with some making up to €290-320/unit.

Ewes with single lambs continue to move from €100-140/unit for aged ewes with young lambs up to €190-200/head for young ewes with a good strong lamb at foot.

Carnew Mart

David Quinn reported an improved trade for hoggets at last Thursday’s sale at Carnew Mart (April 1).

David said that hogget prics were up anywhere from €5 to €10 on the week before.

He noted a similar trade to the previous Thursday for spring lambs and cull ewes.

Looking at the trade in a bit more detail, hoggets made up to €178/head for 16 55kg hoggets.

With the €170/head mark breached on a number of occasions last Thursday for hoggets, David noted some very strong prices for lighter store-type hoggets e.g. 42kg and 43kg hoggets came in at €150/head and €155/head respectively.

The tops of the spring lambs was €183/head for 12 48kg lambs. Heavy cull ewes sold from €148 up to a tops of €198.

Lighter cull ewes sold from €90 to €150. Furthermore, ewes with single lambs at foot made from €170/unit up to €255/unit.

While lastly, ewes with twin lambs at foot traded from €230/unit up to €300/unit.

Sample spring lamb prices: