The mart trade over the past week has notched up another gear again for both lambs/hoggets and heavy cull ewes.

Highs of between €155-159/head have been reported by some mart managers for well-fleshed lambs, while many others have reported highs of €149-151/head regularly at sheep sales.

Overall, any lambs over 49kg have been making anywhere from €140/head up to €150/head over the past week.

Although, 46-48kg lambs have stretched as high as €146-148/head for fleshed lots in cases. However, in the main, 46-48kg lambs have been trading from €130/head up to €141-143/head.

Also Read: Heavy lamb prices up €10-15/head at Blessington, as lambs top €153/head

Furthermore, 44-45kg lambs have been selling to highs of €134-138/head at some marts this past week as well.

Those forward-types stores are also a booming trade, with many mart managers reporting top prices of €116-125/head, with select lots rising to €130-132/head.

The cull ewe trade has also pushed on this past week, with well-fleshed ewes hitting €140-145/head, with many fleshed ewes selling from €125-139/head.

Marketing ewe lambs

Considering the strong factory prices on offer, coupled with a booming mart trade, it might be worth considering for some farmers to market ewe lambs bought in 2020 that they planned on keeping on and selling as hoggets at breeding sales this coming summer.

There’s a huge appetite from factories for lambs, while butchers are very active at sales, so it might be something worth considering.

With grass supplies tight, many will have started to feed some concentrates to keep these ewe lambs ticking over nicely until spring comes and grass growths starts to kick in – therefore, marketing these lambs will reduce costs and leave a decent margin.