Around 500 cattle went under the hammer at Friday’s general sale in Roscrea.

Included in this was a large selection of good-quality suckler cows with calves at foot. A very good clearance was achieved.

Speaking to mart manager Michael Harty, he said he was "pleasantly surprised with the sale".

He explained: “There was good farmer activity around the ring, which resulted in a good steady trade for both bullocks and heifers.”

The gap between good- and poor-quality lots, which has become a trend in many marts this year, was evident at this sale too, with "plainer cattle that bit harder to shift".

Bullocks

Table 1 gives a full breakdown of bullock prices.

Bullocks from 400kg to 500kg averaged €1.99/kg for the sale, a rise of 15c/kg from the week previous.

By breed, Friesians put a floor on the price at €1.30/kg up to €1.70/kg.

Dairy-beef breeds ranged from €1.70 to €2.10/kg and continentals started at €1.90/kg up to a high of €2.60/kg.

Harty pointed out that “with the added bonus for in-spec cattle due to come into effect soon, farmers are certainly more anxious for the better-quality animal”.

Forward 500kg to 600kg stores were back 12c/kg and averaged €1.83/kg.

Heavy 600kg-plus bullocks averaged €1.90/kg for the sale and R+ grades and above made upwards of €2.10/kg.

Suckler cows

A selection of nearly 40 suckler cows with nice-quality spring-born calves at foot were on offer and met with a fine trade.

The dispersal of a local well-known suckler herd made up a lot of the numbers here.

The sale average for the pairs on offer was €1,570, ranging from €1,050 to €2,150.

The top price on the day went to a four-year-old Simmental-cross cow with an eight-month-old Charolais bull calf at foot.

Other noteworthy prices included €2,140 for a four-year-old Limousin-cross cow with a seven-month-old Limousin heifer calf at foot, €2,100 for a six-year-old Limousin-cross cow with a seven-month-old Limousin heifer calf at foot and €2,000 for a six-year-old Limousin-cross cow with a six-month-old Limousin bull calf at foot.

Analysis for this report was generated from the MartBids app. MartBids is a collaboration between the Irish Farmers Journal and livestock marts. The app is available for download on iPhone or Android on the App Store or Google Play. With this app, all of the information that is displayed on the mart board is now available on your smartphone, long before the animal enters the sales ring.