On Tuesday evening (April 6) Ballybay Livestock Mart held its weekly sale of sheep.

According to the mart's manager, Adrian Grimes, the sale was slightly smaller than usual, with 536 sheep sold on the night.

He said that heavy hoggets and spring lambs were in strong demand, with prices for both breaching the €180/head mark on the night.

The spring lambs that were on offer on Tuesday at Ballybay, made up to a top price of €185/head for 45kg.

Sample spring lamb prices:

Adrian added that the hogget trade was up on the previous week, with prices topping €182/head for 50kg.

The top-quality, 50kg plus hoggets generally sold in excess of €170/head up to €177/head.

Sample hogget prices:

A brisk trade was seen for heavy ewes at Ballybay on Tuesday, with a top price of €172 seen for a 100kg ewe.

The general run of prices for those heavy, fleshed, 90kg plus ewes were from €150/head up to €170/head.

Sample ewe prices:

The Monaghan-based mart's spring lamb and hogget show and sale is taking place next Tuesday evening, with judging taking place at 5:45pm, and the sale kicking off shortly afterwards at 6:30pm.