A strong trade all around was seen at Enniscorthy Mart on Wednesday last (July 7) - with lamb prices seeing an increase, while cull ewes continue to be in strong demand, with prices reaching a high of €213.

Talking to Agriland after the sale, the mart's assistant manager, Kevin Murphy, gave the lowdown on the trade.

He said: "We had a much bigger sheep sale this week. Numbers are increasing every week as more mid-season lambs become fit and sellers start to sell stores.

"The trade overall received a massive boost - up €8-14/head - with demand from the upcoming Eid al-Adha the driving force behind this.

"Overall, the trade is extremely good for the time of the year.

"There are more and more finished lambs appearing each week, but demand from factory agents this week far outweighed supply as lambs seen a price hike of €10/head on average - which contrasted the trend of the previous two weeks where lambs had taken a knock.

"The heavier lambs or butcher-type lambs continue to sell very well, with local butchers and factory agents competing strongly for suitable lambs, as heavy lambs were scarce on the day. Prices ranged from €98 to €106 over the kilo."

Sample heavy-lamb prices:

On the factory lamb trade, Kevin added: "There was a larger entry of factory-type lambs on offer which sold from €117/head for 13 lambs at 40kg, up to €145/head for five lambs at 48kg."

Sample factory lamb prices:

Kevin said that more store lambs are coming to market - and there are plenty of farmers looking to buy store lambs - with some store cattle buyers opting for store lambs as grass is plentiful, and cattle have seen a big lift as well.

Heavy store lambs sold from €65 to €80 over the kilo at Enniscorthy Mart on Wednesday, while light stores made from €58 to €67 over the kilo.

Sample store lamb prices:

Kevin said that they are starting to see a few pens of ewe lambs throughout the sale which like always, are receiving a premium of €10 to €20 when compared to wethers and rams.

Sample ewe lamb prices:

Touching on the cull ewe trade, Kevin said: "There was a bigger number of cull ewes on offer as farmers wean lambs and select ewes for culling when prices are so strong. Cull ewes got a big lift, probably up €10 to €15 on last week.

"The heavy ewes were scarce and an exceptional trade was seen, with a single ewe weighing 100kg making €213."

Heavy cull ewe prices:

Store cull ewe prices:

In the brood ring at Enniscorthy Mart, Kevin said 72 ewe hoggets were entered into the first breeding sale of the year.

Speaking about the trade seen, he said: "We had our first sale of breeding ewe hoggets with 72 in total on offer - which met a strong demand on the day from farmers sourcing replacements.

"It was a strong start to the breeding season, with hoggets ranging from €184/head up to a top price of €225/head for a good pen of black hoggets. Hoggets averaged €210 on the day."