In pictures: serious prices at Castleisland store sale

There was a 100% clearance at the special store sale in Castleisland Mart on Wednesday last.

A rising beef price for finished stock, a tighter supply of cattle and strong demand from buyers for all categories of stock combined to deliver great prices for anyone selling.

Bigger lots over or around 450kg proved to be excellent sellers as they came on the radar of some beef finishers too, while lighter bullocks a shade either side of 400kg saw plenty of competition from farmers.

Factory agents, including a few from across the border, drove the trade for heavier bullocks - while farmers looking to restock having sold finished cattle recently were the main customers for spring 2024-born cattle.

They were the most numerous at the sale and Angus-cross stores bullocks from Friesian dams were comfortably hitting into €4.80/kg to €5/kg.

Price ranges

It didn’t stop there with larger lots with good weight for age pushing on for €5.20/kg. The same type of animal with poorer grading potential could be had for under those price ranges.

Hereford-crosses of the same vintage were a back a fraction on their traditional breed comrades but not much at the same time, with a few crossings the €5/kg mark too.

Those crosses from the suckler herd and continental-crosses were making a premium compared to the dairy-cross stock.

Friesians of all weights tended to be trading for between €3.40/kg to €3.80/kg with heavier finished bullocks most sought after here as they made up to €2,640/head.

'Serious money'

Heavy beef-cross bullocks over 600kg and across all breeds were making from €2,600 to €3,720/hea.

Following the sale, mart manager, Neilus McAuliffe said: “It was serious altogether, as good as what we had in a long time. A lot of farmer customers buying the lighter cattle especially year-and-a-half-old cattle. They were coming into serious money. There’s super grass growth and after selling finished cattle in the last few weeks, farmers are coming out now buying stores. Factory agents were very anxious for forward beef cattle too and we had two buyers from the north at the ringside too.

"When you’re getting up to €5.50/kg for the lighter cattle, it’s always a good day and I’d say that’s the price hopefully going forward. Numbers will get tight and the birth registrations are down so it's going to bite from bother ends.

"It makes for a fantastic year for farming with weather and the good prices for milk and beef. We never had a year like it, not in my lifetime anyway.”