On Wednesday last (November 25), Enniscorthy Mart held its weekly sale of sheep. Similar to other marts, the trade was good across the board, with finished and store lambs in strong demand.
To find out what the trade was like on the day, AgriLand spoke to the assistant mart manager of Enniscorthy, Kevin Murphy.
He explained: We had a big sheep sale for the time of the year. The trade for all types of lambs continues to improve. I’d say prices were up by €2/head on last week.
There is strong competition between factory agents in an attempt to secure a steady supply of finished lambs.
Stores are also in strong demand which is being driven continually due to rising finished lamb prices.
Looking at the prices on the day, butcher lambs sold from €118/head for 18 lambs weighing 50kg up to a top price of €128/head for 28 lambs weighing 55kg.
Factory lamb prices are rising each week and, on Wednesday, prices for these lots ranged from €109/head for eight lambs weighing 44kg up to €121/head for 19 lambs weighing 49kg.
The store trade continues to rise each week. I’d say prices for stores were up by at least €2-3/head on last week due to a big farmer demand and an anticipation of stronger sheep prices in spring.
Light stores sold from €84/head for 12 lambs weighing 29kg up to €100/head for 19 lambs weighing 34kg.
Forward stores, like their lighter counterparts, were up €2-3/head and sold from €96/head for 12 lambs weighing 40kg up to €108/head for 23 lambs weighing 40kg.
Lastly, in terms of the cull ewe trade, heavy cull ewes remain scarce. Prices for well-fleshed ewes topped out at €117/head on Wednesday.
Store ewes remain a solid trade, with those forward-feeding ewes making up to €92-95/head.