It’s hard to believe that the first of the autumn weanling sales are ready to get going again next week.

All eyes will be on the trade as to where it starts, with Iveragh mart in Kerry kicking off proceedings next Tuesday 4 July for a special autumn born sale of weanlings.

Weanlings continue to be the highlight of the cattle trade with store cattle and heavy cattle continuing to chug along in line with reduced factory quotes.

Weanling exporters remain very active around rings, snapping up the small numbers on offer at the moment.

Speaking to mart managers around the country, numbers being brought out for sale remain low and the recent rain will take the grass pressure off a lot of farmers in the south. In the heifer rings 500-600kg heifers were back 15c/kg this week across all quality categories.

Lighter heifers in the 400-500kg bracket were also back 9-12c/kg. In the bullock rings prices were also lower this week, with 500-600kg bullocks back by 6-13c/kg.

Bullocks in the 400-500kg weight bracket were trading at a similar price to last week, with top quality bullocks coming in at €2.79/kg.

In the weanling bull rings, top quality 300-400kg weanlings came in at €3.63/kg this week, a similar price to last week.

Heavier bull weanlings in the 400-450 weight bracket also met good demand, with the top end 400-450kg bull weanlings selling for €3.53/kg this week.

Heifer weanlings were also a steady trade, with the top end of 300-400kg heifer weanlings coming in at €3.60/kg this week – up 19c/kg on the previous week.