Camera at the Mart attended the annual show and sale of Charolais-bred calves at Markethill Livestock Mart last week. The sale is now firmly established as one of the stand-out weanling sales across the province, with both sale rings packed to capacity.
Cattle quality was exceptional and both factors resulted in the large entry of 540 calves being met with intense buying demand.
Commenting on the sale, mart manager Hampton Hewitt said there was a big turnout of repeat buyers from previous years competing hard for cattle and this underpinned a terrific trade across the entire sale.
In the pre-sale show, the male champion title was awarded to Noel Graham, Annahilt, Lisburn. The same animal was awarded the supreme championship by judge Nigel Matchett.
The champion female calf was bred by Kyle McCall, Armagh, and went on to claim the reserve supreme championship.
Topping the sale was the overall champion. This February-born male calf weighed 362kg and sold for £1,300, or 359p/kg.
The reserve male champion was a pedigree Charolais calf and this 478kg animal was bid to £1,250, but left unsold.
The third-prize male calf was a five-month-old animal weighing 332kg and sold to £890, or 268p/kg.
Other stand-out prices saw several top-quality bull calves weighing 350kg to 390kg making over £1,000.
There was a big run of bull calves selling above £900, with stand-out lots being a 374kg animal which made £950 and a 360kg calf making £960.
Male calves in general sold from 230p/kg rising to 317p/kg, with a 240kg calf making £760.
In the heifer ring, prices reached £1,100 for the March-born champion female animal which weighed 360kg, making 305p/kg.
The second-placed heifer was a 370kg April-born animal and sold to a top price of £1,120 (303p/kg), with the third-prizewinning heifer, a March-born calf weighing 324kg, selling for £1,000, or 309p/kg. Other stand-out prices for heifer calves saw a February-born animal weighing 384kg selling for £925 and an April-born animal weighing 318kg making £900, with similar lots around 300kg making upwards from £840.
