Camera at the Mart: quality weanling bulls in hot demand in Manorhamilton

There was a large entry of over 500 cattle in Manorhamilton Mart for the weekly cattle sale last week.

The quality of cattle on offer was extremely high, leading to a number of weanling bulls breaching the €6/kg mark.

The demand from ringside buyers for all categories of cattle was extremely strong, producing an overall clearance rate of 98%.

The large entry of quality weanling bulls was met with a flurry of bids from both online and ringside.

The largest number of weanling bulls present weighed from 300kg to 400kg. These were highly sought after and sold from €3.08/kg to €6.61/kg.

Weanling bulls weighing from 400kg to 500kg were also highly sought after and they sold from €3.02/kg to €6.29/kg.

There was a slightly smaller entry of lighter bulls weighing from 200kg to 300kg and they sold from €3.25/kg to €5.61/kg. There was a small number of heavy weanling bulls weighing over 500kg. These sold from €3.47/kg to €4.63/kg, depending on quality.

There was a small number of weanling heifers in the sales yard, but prices remained strong. Heifers weighing over 300kg sold from €4.11/kg to €4.74/kg and heifers weighing under 300kg sold from €4.10/kg to €5.33/kg.

The bullock entry was made up of more average cattle, with a lot of dairy-cross cattle in the section. Heavy bullocks weighing over 500kg sold to a high of €4.08/kg. The most highly sought after bullocks were those weighing from 300kg to 400kg, which sold from €3.75/kg to €5.22/kg.

There was a strong entry of well-fleshed cull cows on offer and they topped at €3,140. The majority of the cull cows sold from €2,880 for high-quality continental cows to €1,110 for dairy cull cows.

There were just three stock bulls entered and they sold from €2,280 to €3,140.

A small number of heavy heifers passed through ring two, with heifers weighing over 500kg selling from €3.47/kg to €4.66/kg.

The rest of the heifer entry weighed from 400kg to 500kg and they sold from €3.60/kg to €3.89/kg.