An excellent show of quality stock was on offer at the Christmas lamb show and sale at Raphoe Mart on Monday (December 7), according to the mart’s manager, Anne Harkin.
Of the two classes on show (Texel and Suffolk) a top price of €215/head was achieved for a pen of 48kg Texel-cross lambs.
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In the Texel-cross class, first prize was awarded to Glen McConnell for his pen of lambs weighing 48kg that sold for €215/head and were purchased by McCarron’s Butchers.
The winner of second prize in the Texel-cross class was Gordon Crockett whose lambs weighing 47kg sold for €160/head.
Lastly, third prize was presented to Glen McConnell. His other pen of lambs weighing 48kg sold for €190/head.
Video credit: Raphoe Mart
Suffolk-cross class
In the Suffolk-cross class, the top prize was given to Daniel Harkin whose 47kg lambs sold for €132/head.
In second place was Kieran Bradley’s pen of 49kg lambs that made €18/head more than the first prize winners and sold for €150/head.
Finally, Raymond Patton’s pen of 45kg lambs came in third and sold for €117/head.
General sheep sale
Alongside the Christmas show and sale, Raphoe Mart held its weekly sale of sheep on the same day (Monday, December 7) – which saw 900 sheep on offer.
Butcher lambs continue to be a strong trade at the Donegal-based mart, with heavy lambs topping out at €134/head on Monday. In general, prices for these lots ranged from €125/head up to €134/head.
Moving on to the store lambs trade, as Anne said, the trade for these types has been consistently strong, with forward-type lambs making up to €110/head and slightly more in cases.
Stores in the 28-36kg bracket sold from €80/head up to €100/head, in general. Lastly, more life appears to be coming back into the cull ewe trade, according to Anne. Heavy, well-fleshed cull ewes made up to €140/head on Monday, with many more selling for €110-120/head.