While grass supply pressure has eased a little in the south of the country, numbers continue to move out earlier than last year.

Central Auctions, Roscrea, had a big sale last Friday, with a real solid demand for forward stores.

Heavy bullocks over 600kg ranged in price from €2.60/kg to €2.90/kg, with top-end continental cattle the highlight of the trade.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Central Auctions’ Michael Harty said: “We are seeing a real good appetite for those forward stores requiring a few weeks feeding, with factory and farmer feedlots very hungry for the right ones.

“Plainer dairy-cross stock are a little harder shifted, especially if lacking in flesh, with some buyers shying away from longer-keep cattle because of uncertainty around beef price and feed costs.”

Hereford- and Angus-cross heifers and bullocks in the 400kg to 500kg range are coming at €2.10/kg to €2.30/kg, depending on quality and flesh cover.

Cull cows also remain a very solid trade with a number of wholesalers very active for heavy fleshy cows.

Cows in the 700kg to 800kg bracket are still hitting €2.60/kg to €2.80/kg for high-end ones. Plainer Friesian cows are a little harder shifted, with as low as €1.20/kg paid for parlour cows, while warmer cows with flesh are trading as high as €1.80/kg.