The cattle trade in Carnross Mart has got off to a good start, with camera at the mart present at Tuesday evening’s weanling bull and heifer sale.
The trade was said to be helped by a combination of firm buying from specialist finishers, live export activity and farmers starting to purchase cattle for summer-grazing systems.
Good-quality continental bulls in the 300kg to 350kg bracket sold from €2.40/kg to €2.70/kg, while top-quality lots weighing around 400kg sold in the region of €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg.
Heavier feeding bulls were also a solid trade, selling from €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg, while there was brisk demand for light Angus bulls weighing 270kg to 370kg, with export demand helping this category and prices reported as ranging between €1.90/kg and €2.30/kg.
Good-quality continental heifers were also said to be a solid trade, with nice-quality continental heifers selling on average from €2.20/kg to €2.40/kg, while a selection of excellent-quality lots increased to €2.80/kg.
Plainer-quality dairy-bred lots or cattle with age against them were reported as selling back to €2.00/kg or slightly under.
A dairy sale will be held on Thursday 17 January, while the mart will host a clearance sale of 52 Limousin-Charolais-cross spring-calving cows on Tuesday 29 January.