Despite a lot of talk around reduced prices in factories impacting the mart trade, Central Auctions in Roscrea had a steady trade for heavy beef cattle last Thursday.

A special sale of heavy forward cattle attracted a lot of high-end entries and it also attracted a lot of interest from both feedlots and factory buyers.

Top-end heifers

Top-end heavy heifers over 600kg were still hitting €3/kg, with a number of heifers around the 600kg mark coming close to €2,000 at the fall of the hammer.

Bullocks, while not hitting the heights of prices achieved a month ago, were still hitting €2.80/kg to €3/kg, with heavier types a better trade.

Cull cows continue to be an exceptional trade and a number of wholesalers remain very active in the market for top-quality heavy cows.

Lesser-quality cows are back. Dairy-bred stock are also back, with Friesian bullocks trading around €2/kg, back 30c/kg to 40c/kg on previous prices.

‘Steady trade’

Commenting on the sale, mart manager Michael Harty said: “It was a good steady trade all day, but we are seeing a gap opening up between the better-quality cattle and the poorer stock.

“Long-keep cattle have probably taken the biggest hit over the last two weeks, with factories spooking buyers a little.”