There was standing room only around the ring in Ballybofey and Stranorlar Livestock Mart on Saturday 7 June for the inaugural Show Stars Sale.

The entry was small, with only 35 cattle in the sales yard, but the quality of these animals was extremely high, drawing buyers from all across Ireland to the mart.

Bids flew in from both the ringside and online, leading to a very strong clearance rate of 98%.

The entry was divided into three sections – 2025-born heifers, 2024-born heifers and breeding heifers.

The pre-sale show was also judged in these sections. The judge was Kaine Treanor from Lucky Day Competitions.

The sale was topped by a March 2025-born Belgian Blue heifer calf sired by IZ Priceless that sold for €13,000. She was a quality calf and sold sucking her recipient mother.

The quality of the remainder of the 2025-born heifer section was extremely high and they sold from €3,500 to €10,000.

Champion

The €10,000 was paid out for the day’s overall champion, a super Boherard Overdose-sired Belgian Blue heifer calf that sold with her dam. The 2025-born heifer section averaged a sensational €8,833.

In the 2024-born heifer section, a top price of €4,100 was paid out for a super February 2024-born heifer sired by the much-admired New Red.

This quality animal won the section and was also crowned reserve overall champion.

Demand for the 2024-born heifers was very consistent and they sold from €1,900 to €4,200 and averaged a strong €2,922.

Largest entry

The largest entry of the day was in the breeding heifer section.

This large section was topped at €6,200 for a 530kg February 2024-born Belgian Blue heifer.

This heifer was extremely well marked and she also stood first in the lineup in this strong class.

Heavier breeding heifers weighing over 500kg sold from €2,800 to €6,200, while lighter breeding heifers weighing under 500kg sold from €1,950 to €3,700.

The 500kg-plus heifer averaged €4,006 and the lighter heifers weighing under 500kg sold to an average of €2,675.

Mart manager Brian Crawford said: “The quality of animals coming through the mart is improving all the time and it’s a credit to farmers for producing these high-quality animals that are so highly in demand at the minute.”

In pictures

This Belgian Blue-cross bull calf sold with his recipient dam for €3,700.

This Charolais-cross heifer weighing 600kg sold for €3,000 (€5/kg).

This Limousin-cross heifer weighing 410kg sold for €2,700 (€6.59/kg).

This Limousin-cross heifer weighing 640kg sold for €4,100 (€6.41/kg).

This overall reserve champion Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 490kg sold for €4,200 (€8.57/kg).

This Limousin-cross heifer weighing 354kg sold for €2,600 (€7.34/kg).

This Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 580kg sold for €3,200 (€5.52/kg).

This second-prizewinning Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 250kg sold for €3,500 (€14/kg).

This overall champion Belgian Blue-cross heifer calf weighing 240kg sold with her Belgian Blue-cross dam for €10,000.

This 10-week-old pedigree Belgian Blue heifer calf sold alongside her recipient dam for €13,000.

This Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 390kg sold for €2,800 (€7.18/kg).