After a brief one-year hiatus, Tullamore Farm held its annual draft sale of in-calf and maiden heifers in Roscrea Mart on Wednesday night last.

No heifer sale took place last year due to a breeding decision to tighten the calving period and cull older or poorer-performing cows, with all of the 2023-born crop of heifers retained in herd.

This year happily saw 14 in-calf heifers and seven maiden heifers go forward for sale, with huge demand witnessed on the night.

SCEP-qualified

Both the maiden and in-calf lots were ranked four or five stars and qualified for SCEP, with the in-calf heifers scanned in-calf (two scans completed) to easy calving AI sires, with all heifers calving in February and March of 2026 to bulls such as LM7416, LM2014, SA2159 and LM9577.

In-calf lots sold from €4,150 to highs of €5,800 to an average of €4,870. Four heifers sold for between €4,000 and €4,500, with five heifers selling between €4,500 and €5,000, while a further five heifers sold above €5,000.

Broken down by breed, the seven Limousin-sired heifers sold to an average of €4,791, while the four Simmental-cross heifers on offer averaged €5,400. Three Salers-cross heifers averaged €4,333.

Top price on the night was a a Simmental-cross heifer (sired by SI2152 Curaheen Earp) which was born February 2024 and weighing 560kg, with a Eurostar index of €171 and calving in February to LM7416, which sold for €5,800 (€10.36/kg).

A selection of seven maiden heifers – all SCEP-eligible and scanned correct for breeding – sold to an average of €3,081.

With a 100% clearance across maiden and in-calf heifers, 15 were sold online, with six going to ringside buyers.

Speaking after the sale, Tullamore Farm manager Shaun Diver noted: “It’s really heartening to see repeat buyers every year at the sale, which is evidence that the heifers they are buying are doing the business on their own farms and I hope this year’s crop does the same for buyers.”