Camera at the Mart: top of €4,100 in Gortatlea show and sale

Gortatlea Mart had another full house of weanlings at its annual show and sale of heifer weanlings last Wednesday.

That followed on from a big show of bulls the week before, which were met with good demand from shippers and feedlot feeders.

Top call last Wednesday night went to an October 2023-born Belgian Blue heifer sired by New Red and out of a Tomschoce Imperial-bred cow.

She claimed the overall championship rosette in the pre-sale show.

She weighed 505kg and sold for €4,100, the top price in the sale.

The quality of Belgian Blue heifers in the mart was outstanding.

While the quality in the Limousin and Charolais weanling sections wasn’t at the Belgian Blue level, they were still met with a very solid trade from farmer buyers.

Next-highest price went to another Belgian Blue heifer, this time weighing 440kg and selling for €3,900.

A number of other show-type heifers crossed the €5/kg mark, including an October 2023-born Belgian Blue heifer weighing 440kg and selling for €3,500.

The general run of good Charolais heifer weanlings weighing between 300kg and 400kg came in between €3/kg and €4/kg depending on weight and quality.

Limousin heifers were a similar trade, with some very good money being paid for lighter golden-type heifer weanlings.

While suckler farmers got on well selling weanlings, some were back round the ring again to purchase replacement heifers for their suckler herd. This drove the price for Limousin heifer weanlings in particular.

Wednesday night’s sale also had a large number of runner or reared calves in the sale.

These were predominantly Aberdeen Angus and Hereford-cross and were selling for between €450 and €550, depending on weight and quality.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager Maurice Brosnan said: “We had an amazing show of top-quality cattle at our heifer weanling show and sale again this year.

“Suckler farming is the lifeblood of this part of Kerry and it’s great to see these small-scale suckler farmers getting rewarded for their efforts in breeding and bringing these animals out to sale. We were very happy with the trade, with some good customers for the top heifers, along with a steady trade for the R grading heifer weanlings.”

Gortatlea Mart will hold its annual show and sale of sucklers on Thursday 5 September, with its annual show and sales of bullocks and heifers taking place in October.