Camera at the Mart: buyers hungry for quality in Roscommon

Roscommon Mart held its weekly sale of heifers and dry cows on Friday 2 February, with just under 150 heifers and 30 dry cows presented for sale.

Vigorous bidding from the ringside with the help of plenty of online activity saw the hammer fall for 142 of the 147 heifers on offer, while all 31 cows left the ring sold.

Some of the many highlights of Friday’s sale included a Charolais-cross cow born in March 2014 and weighing 890kg that sold for €2,290 (€2.57/kg) and a Simmental-cross heifer born in May 2022 and weighing 525kg that sold for €1,840 (€3.50/kg).

Lighter heifers in the 300kg to 400kg weight range averaged from €2.90/kg to €3.11/kg, with a top price in the section being achieved for a 365kg Charolais-cross heifer that sold for €1,190 (€3.26/kg). Some of the plainer heifers in this section hovered around the €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg price range.

Although the sale was dominated by continental heifers, in the 400kg to 500kg weight range there was a number of Angus-cross heifers that sold around the €2.90/kg mark, while a selection of Simmental heifers in the same weight range achieved similar prices with 5c to 10c/kg in the difference.

Limousin heifers dominated this section, with one Limousin-cross weighing 460kg selling for €1,540 (€3.35/kg) and another weighing 450kg selling for €1,490 (€3.31/kg).

Looking at the slightly heavier heifers ranging from 500kg to 600kg, this section was topped by a Simmental-cross heifer weighing 525kg that sold for €1,840 (€3.50/kg).

While the top-end Charolais and Limousin heifers in this section did sell from €3.10/kg to €3.25/kg, some of the more average lots also achieved relatively strong prices ranging from €2.65/kg to €2.90/kg.

Heavy heifers met a steady trade again, with continental lots averaging from €2.80/kg to €3.00/kg.

This was exceeded on a number of occasions, such as by a Charolais-cross heifer weighing 650kg that sold for €2,040 (€3.14/kg) and another Charolais heifer weighing 608kg that sold for €1,880 (€3.09/kg).

The cow trade at Friday’s sale was very positive and, again, like we’ve seen around the country, the supply was not there to fill the demand.

Some top prices included a Limousin-cross cow weighing 690kg that sold for €1,800 (€2.61/kg) and a Charolais-cross cow weighing 810kg that sold for €2,250 (€2.78/kg).

In general, the heavy continental cows sold from €2.60/kg to €2.80/kg, while a small selection of traditional breeds sold from €2.30/kg to €2.40/kg.