This week's sheep trade sees lamb price quotes from factories increase by 10c/kg or €2.30/head on a 23kg lamb carcass.

Recent weeks have seen price positivity for lambs with price rises apparent both last week and the previous week.

Cull ewe prices remain much the same at the higher-end of the price scale this week with some of the top prices available for lighter ewes moving up 10c/kg this week.

Lamb supplies remain tight with the overall supply back 8% to date this year and last week's lamb kill was 47,500 which was 2,100 head below the same week of 2023.

The total sheep kill in the week ending Sunday, October 13, was just under 55,000 which was 9% or 5,600 head below the same week of last year.

At the higher-end of the price scale, €7.60/kg is available for lambs with €4.10/kg available for ewes. As is always the case, some suppliers are managing to secure prices above these from the market in certain cases.

While the above are some of the higher prices available, other outlets are quoting €7.25/kg plus a 15c/kg Quality Assurance (QA) bonus, leaving €7.40/kg on offer here up to 23kg carcass weight.

Other outlets are quoting €3.80/kg for ewes over 30kg and €3.70/kg for ewes under 30kg.

There were over 4,100 sheep on offer at Carnew Mart, Co. Wicklow on Thursday, October 17, with strong demand from northern customers, wholesalers and specialist feeders for all types of sheep.

Sample cull ewe prices from Carnew Mart:

87kg at €191;
80kg at €181;
78kg at €159;
71kg at €138;
54kg at €62.

Breeding hoggets made from €140-270/head while breeding ewes made from €120-245/head and breeding rams made from €300-740/head.

Sample lamb prices from the sale:

66kg ram lamb at €182;
54kg ewe lambs at €178;
52kg ram lambs at €176;
44kg ewe lambs at €159;
36kg ewe lambs at €140;
33kg ewe lambs at €132;
26kg ewe lambs at €95.

There were almost 500 sheep on offer at Headford Mart, Co. Galway, on Saturday, October 19 with a top price of €163/head going to a pen of 51kg ram lambs.