Roscommon Mart’s weekly weanling sale on Tuesday evening included a special sale of in-calf heifers.

The hand-picked heifers were offered by two specialist in-calf heifer producers – Aidan Banahan and Mulrooney Heifers.

The average price recorded was €3,560 with, prices ranging from €3,200 to €4,000, with one top-quality Limousin heifer hitting €5,050.

The heifers on offer were good farmer-type heifers which were not extreme in conformation and weighed in the region of 650kg on average.

Many were calving in the immediate months ahead to AI Limousin sires, with a good percentage rated as four or five star on the Euro-Star replacement index.

Demand was firm, but with sale values falling in line with a reduction in cattle values the reserve price was not met for a number of heifers, resulting in a clearance rate of 75%.

Weanling trade

Meanwhile, the trade for weanlings was lively, with farmers purchasing lighter bulls active and competing with live export buyers on occasion, while beef finishers were keen for heavier bulls.

The general run of prices for continental bulls weighing 300kg to 370kg was in the region of €5.20/kg to €6/kg, with some very fancy prices of up to €7.50/kg paid for Charolais-cross bulls in the 270kg to 320kg weight bracket.

Meanwhile, heavier bulls sold from €4.20/kg to €4.60/kg in the main.

Heifers followed a similar price line, with some plainer types selling back to €4/kg to €4.30/kg.