Trade holds firm at Tuam, as hoggets make up to €153/head

A good, steady trade was reported by Tuam Mart’s manager, Marian Devane, at last Tuesday’s weekly sheep sale (January 26).

Unlike other marts, Marian said that the trade has held firm these past two weeks, with fleshed hoggets making up to €153/head on Tuesday.

Speaking on the trade, she said: “The trade has held well here the last two weeks, where it maybe dropped off in other places.

“Sheep are scarce, there is no doubt about that. We had 1,100 on offer the previous Tuesday and this week we had about 600. The smaller numbers this week helped to keep the trade strong.

Well-fleshed hoggets in excess of 49kg sold up to a tops of €153/kg. In general, prices for those heavy hoggets ranged from €131/head up to €153/head.

“The stores sold strongly as well, I saw a pen of 38kg hoggets sell for €114/head [or €3.00/kg]. A lot of the store hoggets sold from €114/head up to €127/head on the day.”

Sample hogget prices:

54kg sold at €143/head or €2.64/kg;
51kg sold at €138/head or €2.70/kg;
54kg sold at €153/head or €2.83/kg;
49kg sold at €131/head or €2.67/kg;
60kg sold at €147/head or €2.45/kg;
45kg sold at €127/head or €2.82/kg;
42kg sold at €117/head or €2.78/kg;
38kg sold at €114/head or €3.00/kg.

Marian said that there was a strong interest for heavy cull ewes at Tuesday’s sale, with the trade very strong for these types.

She added: “We saw more of an interest in the heavy culls on Tuesday. Prices reached €150/head, with the majority of the fleshed culls selling from €122/head up to €148/head.