Finished lambs were a flying trade across marts last week, with lambs over 50kg regularly selling in excess of €120/head.

Mart managers were quick to note the strong trade for these types, with top prices of €124-126/head being reported at many marts over the past week.

In general, lambs weighing in excess of 49kg sold from €115/head up to €126/head, with select lots making back to €111/head.

Factory-fit lambs, over the past week, have been trading from €100/head up to €114/head, with again select lots selling above and below this range.

There has been fierce competition among factory agents for lambs over the past week, with (finished lamb) supplies in many marts tight.

Also, marts which have only recently gone down the route of selling online have noticed extra competition among buyers, with many believing buyers who might not have been able to go to marts physically before are now getting involved online and ramping up the competition for lambs.

Nicely-presented lambs weighing 30-35kg continue to make from €80-90/head, with ewe lambs, in particular, pushing towards the €87-90/head mark.

Lastly, lambs weighing anywhere from 20kg up to 30kg have generally been selling from as low as €50/head up to €70/head over the past week, with many of these mountain-bred lambs.

In terms of ewes, heavy, well-fleshed ewes continue to make up to €125/head, with select lots making up to €127-130/head.

Dowra Mart

A good entry of 1,400 sheep were reported at Dowra Mart’s weekly sheep sale on Friday last (November 6).

According to the mart’s manager, Terry McGovern, there was a very strong trade on the day, especially for factory lambs.

Terry noted that store lambs sold from €80/head up to a tops of €97/head for lambs weighing 41kg. Lighter stores traded from €60/head up to €90/head.

Heavy cull ewes made from €80/head up to a tops of €115/head, while feeding ewes made from €50/head up to €80/head.

Factory-fit lambs weighing 42-48kg were also a strong trade on the day, with prices varying from €104/head up to €114/head.

Prices for stores weighing anywhere from 35kg up to 41kg ranged from €86/head up to €101/head.

Feeding ewes sold from €64/head up to €96/head – for more forward-feeding types. Heavy ewes traded from €107/head up to a tops of €120/head.