After months of an upwards trajectory, prices across all marts have started to level off and fall slightly, which was the same for Portumna Mart’s general cattle sale on Wednesday 12 November.
Cattle numbers were strong and buyers were still keen to source cattle, with ample forward and lighter stores in the heifer and steer rings, while fleshed cull cows met firm demand from factory agents.
Heifers in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket were most plentiful and comprised of both suckler and dairy-beef type heifers, which were primarily spring 2024-born cattle.
These lots averaged €4.28/kg, which was actually 16c/kg higher than the week previous, with the top third of heifers in this weight averaging €4.75/kg, mainly continental-type cattle.
In the 500kg to 600kg bracket, prices slipped by 19c/kg on average, with heifers averaging €3.88/kg. This was down to €3.65/kg for the bottom third of heifers, with the top third averaging €4.08/kg. A small show of heavier heifers sold well, averaging €4.03/kg.
Bullocks
Bullocks were a similar story - a slight slip in price across most weights and types, though nothing major.
Lighter bullocks, like the heifers, bucked the trend and actually saw 400kg to 500kg store bullocks averaging €4.10/kg, a 5c/kg lift on last week.
This was mainly due to a huge increase in the bottom third of bullocks of this class, which averaged €3.88/kg, up 33c/kg on the week prior.
Bullocks between 500kg and 600kg averaged €3.92/kg, a fall of 7c/kg on the week before, though the top third of bullocks quality-wise only fell by 2c/kg, selling to an average of €4.23/kg.
Heavy bullocks over 600kg dipped just below the €4/kg mark at €3.97/kg, a fall of 10c/kg on the week before.
Cull cows
There was a solid showing of 79 cull cows, with a good mix of both dairy and suckler beef types available, with the majority being dairy.
Despite the time of year, a good show of the dairy cows on offer were in good flesh.
Top-quality suckler and well-fleshed dairy cows sold from €3/kg up to €3.72/kg, with the top third averaging €3.13/kg.
The majority of dairy cows sold between €2.50/kg and €2.72/kg, with very few prices below this.
Top call of the day overall was a 2017-born cull Charolais bull which tipped the scales at 1,105kg and sold for €3,890 (€3.52/kg).
