More dairy farmers are considering whether or not to sell some of their beef-cross calves now or hold on until the autumn, according to a number of mart managers.

There has been extremely strong demand from shippers for Angus- and Hereford-cross bull calves in particular and after a number of weeks where beef price has fallen, some are opting to cash in now rather than hold on until later in the year.

“Those stronger bull calves are coming into €750 now and some continentals are looking at €900,” David Quinn, Carnew Mart manager, said. “So there is a bit of soul searching going on on farms at the moment.

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“If beef price stays where it is, some are looking at whether it’s better to sell the reared calf for those prices now or hold on until later in the year and go then.”

It was a similar story in Dungarvan Mart, where manager Kevin Casey said he has been receiving more calls from farmers with calves who are considering their options.

“They’re wondering whether it’s better to sell now or hold on until the autumn,” he said.

“A share of them, are moving at the minute and exporters are very strong all the time and the high prices are going to push a few more calves out. We had eight exporters here on Monday and that’s double what we usually have here in June.”