While there is some concern over the age profile of farmers, Ballinrobe Mart manager Teresa Gibsey has said there will always be farmers in the west of Ireland.

She told this week's Young Stock Podcast that there was a positive trade at the mart in 2022, with bullocks up €65/head on 2021 and weanling bulls up €70/head on the same year.

"Farmers in the area are reducing the size of their herds a bit more, but they are emphasising more on the type of cattle they're buying, they're buying more show cattle," she said.

Gibsey also has an auctioneer's licence and she remembers well the first pen of sheep she sold.

"I went selling sheep in Tullamore for a couple of sales, and I remember my first pen of sheep that I sold. They were ewe lambs - they were 47.5kg and they came in at €153 - and that was back in 2021."