There was another large calf sale in Bandon Mart this week, with 1,950 calves on offer. Mart manager Tom McCarthy expects the next two sales to be similar.

He added that the ideal seller is a calf that is aged between three and four weeks and that the card has to match the calf, as some buyers are slow to buy the stronger calf with low age on the card. The information available on the board is heeded on each bunch of calves and is especially evident when buyers know the calves are from cross bred herds.

Friesians dominate

Numbers-wise, Friesians dominated, while Hereford and Angus numbers held similar to recent weeks, despite looking scarcer on the ground.

Continentals were not available in as big a number, but made their presence felt in terms of prices.

Shippers, calf dealers and bigger local beef farmers all competed for Friesian bull calves, with shipping-type calves freely making €80 to €230.

Prices

Overall, Friesian bulls made from €70 to €230. Beef-cross calves were in demand, with Hereford and Angus-cross bull calves from Friesian cows sold for between €190 to €415, with heifers of these breeds selling for between €180 and €390.

A common theme this spring is the prices for traditional beef-crosses from herds that are known to have Jersey-cross cows.

Jersey-cross bull calves were thin on the ground and sold from €20 to €75

Prices for these calves are similar to Friesian shipping calves, with maybe an extra €30 available in some cases. Continental heifers sold from €250 to €425 and continental bulls made from €280 to €450. Jersey-cross bull calves were thin on the ground and sold from €20 to €75.

Friesian heifers, 26 days old, made €220

Friesian heifers sold from €200 to €315, while crossbred heifer calves made extremely disappointing prices. This is surprising given the value they have as in-calf heifers, with these selling from €50 to €101.

Scroll through the images in the gallery at the top of the screen to see a selection of calves sold at Bandon Mart.

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Buying a bull: look at him, then his figures, then the auctioneer