An easier trade was seen for spring lambs at Blessington Mart on Tuesday (April 27), while on the other hand, cull ewe prices were stronger by as much as €10/head, according to the mart’s manager, John Doyle.
Hogget numbers were small at the Wicklow-based mart on Tuesday, but held a steady trade and sold up to a high of €181/head and in general, wouldn’t be back much on last week, John noted.
After the conclusion of the sale, Agriland spoke to the mart’s manager, John Doyle to get his views on the trade.
He said: “Overall, the trade is fairly steady. Spring lambs were an easier trade alright, probably by €5-7/head.
“Prices still reached €160/head for 49kg. The hogget trade wouldn’t have been back much. I would say it was steady enough overall. We saw prices hitting €181/head for 50kg ewe hoggets.
“The ewes would be up €10/head on last week. They were a much better trade this week, with prices topping €160/head for 100kg plus ewes.
“I would say the trade as a whole is reasonably steady. We had strong numbers of ewes, from light to heavy types.
“While, on the other hand, hogget numbers are getting smaller every week and will dry up completely in the coming weeks. Quality is becoming more variable among the hoggets. Although, we are still seeing small numbers of nice-quality ewe hoggets coming through at the same time.
“Spring lamb numbers are still small at the moment; they tend to be slower coming out here as opposed to other marts maybe further down the country, but I’d say now over the coming weeks, we will start to see more coming forward,” John concluded.
