Camera at the Mart: traditional breeds take over in Tipp

Traditional breeds had a firm grip of the calf trade in Tipperary Town Mart for its weekly calf sale on Saturday last.

There were 355 calves present and of those, 221 were sired by an Angus bull. Combined with Hereford-crosses, they made up 300 of all calves on offer.

Stronger bull calves were trading for between €540 and €690, while heifers were generally making from €285 to €460, with a share of both sexes exceeding those prices. Continentals topped out at €790.

Following the sale, manager Mark Donovan said: “Trade was much improved, especially on the lighter heifers, with them up €100/head in spots they were a tougher sell last week.

“No two years are the same – we’re up in numbers so far this year, but we don’t know whether we’ll see them slip over the next month.

“Last year was a great year when it came to breeding and cows calved a bit earlier, so we might be back yet. Overall, we never met any real bad day and shippers were tipping away all the time. They seem to be very anxious again at the moment.

“What we’re starting to see now is a few farmers that are coming back for the second round.

“It’s mainly those who have an automatic feeder and they have the first bunch reared so they’re putting another few calves through again.

“Angus have really taken over. It’s nearly all them at this stage, with a few Herefords too. Friesian numbers have dried up completely between sexed semen and more beef bulls being used later in the season.

“Friesians are the easiest of all sold this spring. Shippers were very active for them. Lighter ones were making around €200 or so, with anywhere between €300 and €410 available for the nicer ones.”