Aurivo's Ballymote Mart hosted a special sale of bullocks and weanlings in conjunction with their normal sale on Thursday.
On the day, 635 animals went through the weighing scales with an impressive 598 finding new homes.
Speaking after the sale, mart manager David Faughnan said: “Overall, trade was good. A lot of the heavier bullocks were coming into €900 to €1,000 plus the weight.
“The sale of weanlings proved exceptional for the heifers, with a full clearance and some very high prices. The good bulls were met with a good trade, but the plainer type was definitely that bit harder sold.
“We definitely started to see more activity for grass cattle, with both farmers and agents buying for farmers. Even a lot of the heavier animals went to farmer buyers for short keep feeding.”
As Faughnan mentioned, a number of heavy bullocks were exceeding the €1,000 plus the weight mark.
Top of the heavy bullock category was a 700kg Charolais, which hit the market at €1,730 (€2.47/kg). Four other Charolais of similar weights secured bids of €1,650 to €1,760. Overall, Charolais cattle of 700kg plus averaged an impressive €2.31/kg.
Cattle below 700kg and suitable for short keep topped at €2.60/kg. This was paid for a 520kg Charolais bullock that sold for €1,350. A number of Limousin and Charolais-sired cattle hitting 500kg or more were seen readily hitting €2.50/kg or higher.
Top price per kilogram bullock on the day was a 325kg Charolais, which sold for €910 (€2.80/kg).
In the weanling ring, the golden €3/kg or more was hit on a number of occasions. Most of these prices were for lighter continental-sired heifer calves. Leading the way at €3.72/kg was a super Limousin heifer that hit the scales at 320kg (€1,190).
The top Charolais weanling heifers weighed 300kg and sold for €920 (€3.07/kg). The Charolais breed also had the highest price weanling bull sold at €3/kg. This was a 350kg bull calf that hit the market at €1,050.
The bull of the Belgian Blue weanlings on offer sold for €1,160. This was paid for a heifer calf that weighed 385kg (€3.01/kg). A number of heavy Blue bulls in excess of 500kg averaged €2.42/kg.
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