During the week, Agriland was down in the premier county, Co. Tipperary, to cast an eye over the trade at Cahir Mart’s sheep sale.
The sale, which saw the guts of 1,100 sheep on offer, consisted of spring lambs, hoggets, cull ewes and ewes with lambs at foot.
To get the thoughts of the mart’s auctioneer, Agriland spoke with Niall Murphy after the sale.
He said: “We had a strong entry of sheep again this week, similar to what we have had the last two to three weeks.
“This week we saw an upturn in spring lamb prices, with more of a demand for them from factory agents.
“Prices for spring lambs ranged from €126/head for stores up to €174/head for fleshed 50kg plus lambs.
“The majority of the spring lambs, however, sold above €160/head.
“Hogget supplies are holding relatively well. Here in this part of the country you have a mix of lowland and hill farms, so there’s still a fair share of hoggets coming through the ring, with a mix of heavier and store types on show.
“Overall, the hogget trade is steady on last week, with prices reaching highs of €167-169/head.
“There was a nice selection of light hogget ewes that sold back to €80/head for 30kg,” he continued.
“The cull ewe trade remains vibrant with prices on Tuesday (May 10) breaking the €200/head mark and making up to €213 for a 118kg ewe.
“We also had a strong entry of ewes with lambs at foot, with a mix of lowland and hill-bred ewes and lambs.
“Prices for ewes with lambs at foot reached a high of €250/unit for a three-year lowland bred ewe with two lambs at foot.
“Overall, across the board, the trade was strong, with spring lambs being the main movers in price this week which was great to see.”
