Bandon Mart kicked off its spring calf sales on Monday of this week and while it’s still ahead of the main crop of spring calves, it was noticeable that prices were up on the corresponding sale last year.

Traditional beef-crosses were making €40 to €50 per head more, while good Friesian bulls were €20 to €30 ahead.

This bull calf born on December 27 sold for €142.

There was good demand for the 250 calves on offer. Friesian bulls sold from €30 to €165.

Born on Christmas eve, this bull calf made €330.

There was a huge demand for continental calves, with bulls selling for up to €490 and heifers making up to €420.

This continental heifer calf made €362.

Traditional beef breed-crosses mainly sold for between €200 and €350, with a share selling either side of that price bracket.

This bull calf born on December 27 sold for €142.

“Farmers are holding on to their calves that little bit extra and you can see that bit more strength in the calves and farmers are being rewarded for it," manager Tom McCarthy said.

“The strong Friesian bull calf was making between €100 and €140 and there was demand for them.The lighter ones were priced from €30 to €60, depending on who was on them.

“Angus and Herefords then, a bull is €250 to €300, so it’s a good start to the year. It’s letting farmers know that young lighter calves won’t make the trade for anybody.

A 24-day old Angus bull calf, he sold for €385.

“Being able to hold calves that extra week, if they can, will make all the difference.

Trade for older cattle was similar to the calves, with a solid demand across the board:

“On the cattle side of the house, there was a fine trade. There’s a great air of confidence in the beef thing at the moment.

March 2018-born bullocks, they weighed 529kg and made €1,050, €1.99/kg.

“Where it’s coming from, I don’t know, but it’s good to see it. Over €2/kg was paid for Angus bullocks and Friesians were sold for between €1.60 and €1.80/kg. There was a great demand for dry cows as well.”

Short-stay bullocks over 500kg were top sellers, with in or around the €2/kg mark seeing a lot of beef-cross bullocks sold.

ows were making between €50 and €425 over the €/kg, with plenty of interest from farmer buyers and feeders.

This group of February 2018-born bullocks averaged 553kgs and sold for €985, €1.78/kg.

Commission

Entry fee for calves is €2.50/head. Seller commission is €3/head up to €50, €4/head from €51 to €100, €6.50/head for €101 to €150, €7/head from €151 to €300 and €8/head for €301 upwards. Buyer commission is a flat rate of €6/head.