Thursday’s special sale of dry cows in Carrigallen Mart, Co Leitrim, saw an entry of 250 dry cows. The increased entry is as a result of farmers in the catchment area being short on fodder supplies and some with slurry still to spread.

A 2012-born Friesian cow that needed feeding weighed 630kg and made €725.

Farmers who may have opted to feed dry cows for a number of months before sale are now choosing to offload quicker.

There was a large number of dairy feeding cows on offer.

A well-fleshed 2009-born Friesian cow weighed 790kg and made €1,100

Cows lacking flesh requiring further feeding met a tougher trade with poorer thin dairy types struggling to make €1-€1.20/kg.

Good continental cows requiring further feeding were making in the region of €1.40-€1.60/kg, while well-fleshed continental cows fit for slaughter were making in the region of €1.80-€1.90/kg with top-quality young cows at the upper end of the scale.

A well-fleshed 2012-born white Charolais cow weighed 830kg and made €1,675

Commenting on the sale, mart manager Helen Kells said that there were a number of factory agents in attendance and a number of buyers who specialise in cow finishing.

"Shorter kept cows met a better demand than cows requiring a lot of feeding,” she said.