Ballyjamesduff Mart continues to host its weekly on-farm sales, with a lively trade seen for dairy stock this spring.

Over the last month, Ballyjamesduff Mart has been all over the country, with a number of on-farm sales in Tipperary, Limerick, Meath and Kerry.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager John Tevlin said: "There has been a great interest in our weekly on-farm sales taking place across the country.

"We have seen some exceptional prices at these sales, with some top-quality lots hitting over €4,000 on multiple occasions.

"There is a high presence of northern buyers at the sales, with 50% of stock at our last on-farm dairy sale in Co Kerry heading to Northern Ireland."

Dispersal

This week, Ballyjamesduff hosted a dispersal sale in Ballinagh, which consisted of 74 in-calf and calved Holstein Friesian cows.

Northern buyers were also active at this sale, contributing to a 100% clearance rate.

The sale reached a peak price of €1,620 for a February-calved Holstein Friesian cow.

The October 2016-born cow carried an EBI of €96 and was sired by Curradarra Andrew.

Other noted prices saw €1,640 for a November 2016-born freshly calved Holstein Friesian cow.

Second-calved cows and third-calved animals sold in a general price range of €880 to €1,520, with fifth-calved cows also selling for over €1,600/head, while older in-calf cows reached €1,280/head.

In-calf heifers were making between €570 to €970/head.

Also featured at the sale was 12 weanling dairy heifer calves.

Weanlings born between March and July 2021 and carrying an EBI between €104 and €207 averaged at €566/head.

Older weanlings born in December 2020 were making as much as €1,030.

John added: "There has been strong demand for dairy stock over the past few weeks, with the majority of our on-farm sales having 100% clearance rates. Today, we [saw] a particular interest in the younger stock, with some of the weanling heifers hitting well above the €1,000 mark."

Ballyjamesduff Mart will host its next on-farm in Batterstown, Co Meath, for a herd of 50 high-EBI Holstein Friesian heifers and cows on Monday 11 April.

In pictures

This July 2021-born heifer calf sold for €500.

This April 2018-born third-calved cow sold for €1,300.

This April 2018-born in-calf cow to an AI Friesian bull sold for €1,490.

This August 2018-born in-calf cow sold for €1,200.

This August 2018-born third-calved cow sold for €1,220.