A specialist sale of in-calf heifers met a firm demand from bidders at Swatragh Livestock Mart in Co Derry on Thursday evening.

A batch of 25 in-calf heifers belonging to the Northern Counties Co-op sold to an average price of £1,486. All heifers were scanned in calf to the Limousin bull and most were Limousin crosses, with a few Blonde d'Aquitaine registered heifers on offer too.

This heifer is due in mid-December and made £1,550.

A top price of £1,800 was paid for a May 2016-born Limousin heifer that is due to calve down in early January.

The second-best price of £1,780 was for a Limousin-Belgian Blue cross heifer (pictured below) that is due in early December.

This heifer is due in early December and was of the top sellers, making £1,780.

Most of the heifers were due to calve down at over two and half years old and all heifers were well conditioned. Most animals were clocking around 600kg on the bridge, with a few of the heaviest closer to 650kg.

This heifer is due in mid-December and made £1,550.

Several batches of maiden heifers from a range of sellers were also on offer. The strongest demand was for a batch of Simmental heifers, with a top price of £1,400 paid for a March 2017-born animal.

Bidding was subdued for a batch of Angus cross animals with dairy genetics. Most of these maiden heifers were passed by the owner at around £550.

This maiden heifer was passed by the owner at £880.

This heifer is due in at the end of November and made £1,400.

This heifer is due in mid-December and made £1,380.

Read more about the sale in next week’s NI edition of the Irish Farmers Journal and online at www.ifj.ie/ni