There has been lots of talk in recent weeks of farmers getting out of sucklers following the conclusion of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme.

But there is also plenty of life in suckling going on the interest shown in specialist in-calf heifer sales and also in clearance sales of genuine herds.

This well-conformed Limousin cow born in 2016 with a quality Limousin calf at foot born 25 September sold for €2,460.

The strong interest was very much evident at a special suckler sale in Central Auctions Nenagh Mart on Tuesday, which included a clearance sale of two top-quality suckler herds.

This five-year-old quality Limousin cow with a bull calf at foot born 1 October sold for €2,100.

Manager Michael Harty said the sale brought many new buyers to the online sale, with farmers especially keen on young well-conformed cows with a good bull calf at foot.

This seven-year-old Limousin cow and her young Limousin bull calf born 14 October sold for €1,900.

The strong demand led to several of such lots exceeding the €2,000 mark for 2016-born Limousin cows with calves aged from a few weeks to two months old.

The best-quality lots exceeded a price of €2,400, with the hammer falling on the top priced outfit at €2,520.

This 2016-born brown Limousin-cross cow and a young bull calf born 10 October sold for €1,880.

There were a number of outfits comprising good-quality cows with a lighter calf selling from €1,800 to €1,950, while a selection of lesser-quality and older cows with heifer calves at foot sold from €1,460 to €1,700.

This 2017-born Limousin-cross cow and young heifer calf born 9 October sold for €1,600.

Interest in sale

Michael says there is already massive interest building in a special sale of over 100 top-quality cows with calves at foot and over 30 in-calf animals in a sale next Saturday at 1pm in Roscrea Mart.

The cattle trade was steady on the day, with Michael reporting that buyers and sellers have become much more accustomed to online-only trading.

This six-year old Limousin-cross cow and Simmental heifer calf at foot born 25 August sold for €1,460.

Heifers weighing from 400kg to 500kg averaged €2.07/kg, with the bottom third averaging €1.87/kg and the top third averaging €2.23/kg, with an entry of good-quality Charolais heifers topping €2.30/kg.

It was a similar price trend for heifers weighing 500kg to 600kg.

This four-year-old Limousin-cross cow and a stronger Limousin heifer calf at foot born 8 June sold for €1,890.

The average price for bullocks was lower due to the presence of significant numbers of Friesian lots, which sold from €1.45/kg to €1.55/kg.

Average-quality Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from €1.70/kg for plain-quality lots to €1.85/kg, with a selection of better-quality R grading types selling to and exceeding €2/kg.

This batch of good-quality Hereford-cross bullocks weighing 438kg and aged 20 months on average sold for €880 (€2.01/kg).

Weanling bulls weighing 300kg to 400kg sold from €1.85/kg to €2.00/kg for traditional-bred animals with continental bulls selling from €2.10/kg to €2.35/kg, depending on quality.

These three Aberdeen Angus-cross bullocks averaging 20 months of age and 380kg sold for €790 (€2.08/kg).

These two Limousin-cross weanling heifers aged seven months on average and weighing 412kg sold for €920 (€2.23/kg).

Three Limousin heifers weighing 388kg and ranging from 16 to 18 months old sold for €780 (€2.01/kg).