Camera at the mart: Angus and Hereford dominate the numbers in Bandon

Numbers slackened but only marginally in Bandon mart this week with 1,849 calves on offer. Back around 240 calves on last week, it was still 150 calves ahead of the same sale in 2023. Farmer demand helped drive trade for traditional beef breed crosses at the Easter Bank Holiday sale at the west Cork venue. This was a nice crossover of supply and demand and kept a firm floor on trade which has improved slightly for lighter calves in recent weeks.

Angus and Hereford cross calves provided the backbone of the sale in Bandon this week and the wide price range they have had most of this spring continued. All in they made anywhere from €370 back to €5 but almost as many sold for over €300 as sold for under €30.

Those over 80kg occupied the upper end of trade for both breeds generally making from €280 to €370.

The majority of Angus and Hereford crosses from Friesian cows and weighing from 60kg to 75kg tended to sell for between €100 to €230.

Jersey genetics

Lighter calves and those with Jersey genetics struggled to break into three figures but the bulk of them made from €30 to €90. Export type Friesian bulls made similar money with up to €120 available for stronger Friesian bulls.

There was a special section for Friesian heifer calves and this included a group of calves with breeding records. These sold for between €360 to €530. Other Friesian heifer calves sold for between €25 to €180.

Belgian Blues were the most common of the continental breeds on offer and those over 80kg generally sold for over €400 with a top price of €430. Lighter calves of that cross could be bought for between €130 to €350. The same could be said of most other continental breed crosses from Friesian cows. At the lower end of trade, continental crosses from crossbred dairy dams were in the same price bracket as the lower end of traditional breeds, selling for as low as €20.

A share of calves of all breeds sold for between €5 and €30, these were generally under 50kg but a share of heavier calves from Jersey or Jersey cross cows sold in this range too.