This week is providing a good example of how Friesian bull calves can be very susceptible to the peaks and troughs of trade at this time of year.

Calves that may have made €60/head at last week’s assembly or even in the sales ring on Monday when there was an appetite for shipping calves were making back to €40 on Thursday.

This is reported to be down to a backlog of calves unable to get on to boats in significant numbers over the last 48 hours or so.

Numbers back

Numbers were back at 50 compared with the 162 calves catered for at last week’s export calf assembly run by Cork Marts and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

This is the second year of the venture where farmers can select calves they wish to sell using the Stock €xpress tab on the ICBF website or app.

Provided calves meet certain criteria, they can go to their local Cork Marts venue. Once there, a price grid based on the market value, weight and conformation decides the price.

Eligibility

To be eligible, calves must be at least 21 days of age and have a minimum weight of 48kg. Calves under this weight will be sent home.

They must also meet a certain level of carcase traits on their dairy beef index and, beginning this week, saw the threshold for Jersey breeding drop from 12.5% to 6.25%.

Calf buyers on the continent and calf exporters here don’t have a market for these calves.

Price range

Friesians ranged from €22 to €65, with the top prices available for calves that have higher beef traits on their dairy beef index.

Better-quality calves made €1/kg, with one exceeding this price. Those that weren’t as well conformed made less than €1/kg.

Some examples included calves at 49kg making €22, 53kg getting €30 or 54kg selling for €40.

Calves under 48kg were sent home, while a representative from Cork Marts said that calves at 65kg or over are probably better off going through the ringside, while those down to 50kg are more suited to export.

In pictures