Ennis Mart's manager, Martin McNamara, reported a super trade at Monday's (April 12) sheep sale, with a very strong demand seen across the board, but in particular for hoggets and cast ewes.

Numbers presented for sale at the Clare-based mart were up on the previous week, with 300 sheep on offer in total.

He said that hoggets outshone the spring lambs on the day, with hogget prices topping €186/head for 10 at 66kg.

This top price was closely followed by a pen of 65kg hoggets that sold for €185/head.

In saying that, spring lambs were still a very sharp trade with prices reaching €183/head for two at 54kg, with many of the spring lambs over 40kg making over €160/head.

The cull ewe trade, as seen at many other marts, was flying, with prices reaching a high of €175 for heavy cull ewes. The majority of those fleshed ewes on offer at Ennis on Monday made from €149/head up to €170/head, with the lighter store ewes selling back to €57/head.