There was a good buzz in Kanturk Mart on Thursday evening last for the north Cork mart’s second calf sale of the week.

A total of 531 calves went through the ring and trade was consistent throughout, with the majority of beef-cross calves weighing up to 65kg selling for between €280 and €500.

Meanwhile, up to €730 was paid for heavier beef-cross calves.

Beef breeds made up most of what was on offer, with Angus-crosses accounting for close to half. Combined with Hereford-crosses they made up 65% of all calves present.

Kanturk Mart has traditionally had a long-held reputation for cattle of both breeds and they backbone both the calf and store sales throughout the year.

Stronger Friesian bulls were generally making up to €400 with those between 55kg and 65kg selling from €240 to €335. Shippers were very active for these and accounted for a good proportion of them. A selection of Friesian heifers made from €430 to €600.

The mart in the Duhallow region of Cork made a decision to add a second weekly sale for the peak calf selling season for 2026 and it appears to have paid off, with over 1,100 calves sold there last week.

After the sale, mart manager Colette O’Connell said: “We’re flying it here and we’ve had a good trade this week. Prices are well ahead of any other year. Whiteheads and Angus are the most popular sellers and farmer buyers are really going for them.

“The decision to introduce a sale on Thursday evenings has gone well.

“We introduced it to alleviate pressure on the system on Tuesdays and it’s working better than we expected.

“We would have been getting up to 1,000 or so calves at peak before, but now we’re getting around 1,300 calves and even a bit more with it over the week.

“It seems to suits all parties – farmers and exporters are all active at both sales and we’re seeing a lot of people who are working off farm coming to the Thursday sale and buying their calves when they wouldn’t have that opportunity at the Tuesday sale.

“We’ll be keeping the second calf sale going for the rest of April and possibly into early May as well.”