The trade at marts this past week has been no more positive than recent weeks, with prices falling back further in the majority of cases.
Many mart managers speaking to Agriland to this week described price drops of up to €5/head. This was after cuts of 10-20c/kg were seen this past week at factories.
The general run of prices for finished lambs attracting factory agents’ interest ranged from €125/head up to €140/head this week.
Heavy lambs at, or over 50kg have generally been trading from €135-145/head, with cases of prices above this level seen at some marts where butcher interest was strong.
As a result of finished lamb prices easing throughout the week, the store lamb trade continues to be hit as well, with prices ranging from €90/head up to €115-120/head in general for forward store lambs.
The trade for light lambs is unchanged, as has been the case for a while now. Demand here is very slack with a big variation in prices.
Lowland-bred types have been moving from €60-90/head for lambs in the 33-37kg weight bracket.
Hill-bred and more cross-bred types have been selling as low as €30-40/head for 28-30kg lambs and up to €50-70/head for lambs in the low-to mid-30kg weight range.
The ewe trade remains as is overall, with factory prices remaining unchanged for some time now.
Heavy ewes continue to sell from €130/head up to €170/head, with some lots selling above this range in cases too, which is confined to 90kg plus ewes.
Store ewes have been selling from €60/head up to €125/head in general across marts this past week.