There was no shortage of quality heifers for buyers to choose from in Balla Mart on Friday evening last, with 50 top-end heifers put forward for sale from Walter Brennan for his annual in-calf heifer sale.
Now one of the longest-running private heifer sales, returning customers are a mainstay of the sale, with farmers continuing to come year after year for top-quality replacements.
A yard of 50 in-calf heifers was available on the night, with a solid selection of primarily Limousin and Belgian Blue-crosses available, with some Charolais-crosses and one pedigree Simmental heifer also available.
All heifers were scanned in-calf, with service dates provided, with the majority serviced to easy-calving proven Limousin AI bulls such as LM8929 Sliabh Felim Sterling, LM9655 Brontemoor Salering, LM9836 Lisna Some Bull and LM4184 Loyal, with a small number of heifers served to a Limousin stock bull.
A selection of heifers on offer were rated four and five stars and suited to SCEP, though this did little to affect price.
Average heifer price was expectedly down on the highs of last year, with an average of €5,453 achieved across the 47 heifers sold in the ring in 2026, with one additional heifer sold afterwards.
In comparison, 2025 saw an average price of €6,791, though the quality of the heifers this year was by no means an excuse for the reduction in price, while the 2026 average is still some way ahead of 2024 average of €3,822.
The top third of heifers sold achieved an average of €6,803, with the bottom third still achieving a healthy average of €4,468.
Eight heifers sold between €6,000 and €6,999, with a further three heifers selling for between €7,000 and €8,999, with two heifers grossing above this.
Twenty-two heifers sold between €4,000 and €4,999, with value in many of these lots for the buyers in attendance.
Limousin-crosses averaged €5,483/head, with Blue-cross heifers averaging €5,421. Purebred Limousin and Charolais-cross heifers averaged €4,687 and €4,700 respectively.
A total of 25 of the 47 heifers sold in the ring went to online buyers, despite a thronged ringside, with several online buyers buying multiple heifers.
Top call of the night was a powerful Limousin-cross heifer tipping the scales at 810kg.
Served in April to LM9577 Drumline S1185, a flurry of ringside bidding saw the hammer knocked down at €11,100.
Second-highest price of the night was another Limousin-cross heifer sired by Cladagh McCabe and served to LM9836 Lisna Some Bull, which was also knocked down to a ringside buyer at €9,000.
