Farmers have joined the battle for this year’s weanlings and have added some life to the trade over the last two weeks. Exporters had it all their own way up to a few weeks ago but farmers are out in force competing strong, especially for the lighter weanlings.

Light weanlings continue to hit €7/kg and over it with the hammer dropping to farmer buyers for most of them this week.

Weanling prices are up €1,000-€1,200/head on 12 months ago with demand outstripping supply in all parts of the country.

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Speaking to the Irish Framers Journal, Elphin Mart manager Ciaran Lynch said: “There’s a mighty buzz around weanling sales again. My phone is hopping from lads looking for well bred suckler stock.

“It’s great to see. Suckling needed that confidence boost. I know lads going back up in numbers again. When you are getting over €2,000/head for weanlings sure why wouldn’t you?

“We had a local farmer who sold 33 weanlings with us on Monday night, a mixture of bulls and heifers and he went home with a cheque of just shy of €80,000.

“It’s great to see the lads that stuck at it getting rewarded for it.”

Breeding

It’s a similar story in other parts of the country. Kerry-based Gortatlea Mart manager Maurice Brosnan said: “Farmers are getting interested again in breeding top-quality cattle and that’s great to see.

“Something will have to be done about the numbers though.

“Demand is outstripping supply at the moment and it’s a lost opportunity that we haven’t more weanlings at the moment to have what exporters need.

“I honestly think we’ll have to look at some sort of a first-calved heifer payment going forward to encourage farmers to stick with suckling.

“We need the young people back looking at suckling as an option again.”