Strong trade drives on prices at all marts
Farmers with heavier type lambs are losing money if they are sending them to the factory and getting paid on a 23.5kg carcass, because trade for those lambs is extremely strong at the marts.
All types of sheep continued to sell very well at the marts in the past week. Young ewes with twin lambs at foot made up to €270, while older ewes with lambs sold for €138-220. Ewes scanned in-lamb made €180-220.
Well-fleshed lambs sold for €63-83 over, or €115-133/hd. Stores made €75-100/hd in the main. Cull ewes for further feeding sold for €60-90/hd, while fat ewes made up to €135/hd.
A good sale at Athenry Mart yesterday resulted in €64-76 over the weight for well-fleshed lambs. Lighter lambs sold for €50-60 over, while plainer and rougher types made closer to €40 over.
Lambs on offer at Fermoy hit a high of €83 over the €/kg when a pen of lambs weighing 48kg/hd sold for €131/hd. But the run of prices for finished lambs was €66-78 over the weight.
Kilkenny Mart had around 700 lambs in a total sale of more than 900 sheep last week. Butcher lamb prices improved by €4-5/hd, selling for €63-77 over. Factory lots improved by €3-4/hd, making €63-74 with their weight. The store trade remained unchanged at €50-65 over.
Baltinglass Mart had a similar trade to the previous week, where lambs of 50-60kg made €115-125/hd. Lambs of 45-50kg lots sold for €90-110, while stores made up to €95/hd. Ewe lambs sold for €90-130/hd. Cull ewes made €75-115/hd and ewes scanned in-lamb sold for up to €180/hd.
Trade was slightly up at Dowra Mart on Saturday, where 780 sheep were offered. The best ewe lambs for future breeding sold for €100-135 each. Heavy lambs made €95-118 and stores for feeding sold for €65-88 each. Cull ewes made €80-110/hd for heavy types, while ewes for feeding sold for €55-78. In-lamb ewes made €120-220, depending on age and quality.
Mountbellew Mart enjoyed an increase in prices for lambs and cull ewes remained a firm trade. Demand was also lively for ewes with lambs at foot.
Well-fleshed lambs made €64-76 with the €/kg, while cull ewes sold for €73-135/hd. Second-crop ewes with twin lambs at foot sold for €270.
Meal-fed lambs at Maam Cross sold for €60-70.
- Joe Healy
Originally published in
