With the sunshine has come a slowdown in numbers passing through rings, as marts begin entering their summer lull.

Grass buyers have been out in force this week securing the last of their cattle to tick the stocking rate box for ANC, with some stiff competition.

What seems to be clearly obvious this week is that weight for age is having a big effect on price, particularly in dairy beef stock.

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Cattle born in 2025 or even 2024 that got an obvious setback in growth and were of a smaller frame were a noticeably tougher sell, while, on the other hand, those with good weight for age without being overly fleshed commanded a premium, with these cattle set to thrive on over the summer grazing season.

While the weanling prices in the bulls seem more depressed, the majority of stock passing through these rings are dairy-beef types.

Better-quality suckler weanlings can be classed in your top third, with average suckler and better-type dairy-beef achieving the average price.

On the store front, while prices are back this week for bullocks, this was after a decent lift last week, so prices are on par with two weeks ago, despite a stagnation in factory prices, while heifers have recorded a positive increase across the board after some recent slippages.

Feedlot buyers were active in sourcing stores this week, with a feeling that securing numbers now will help to shore up a drop-off in numbers in June and July.

Cull cows are consistently topping trade where there are heavy well-fleshed suckler cows present.

This week saw the top third of suckler cows hit €3.62/kg, while average-quality types hit €3.03/kg, a rise of 10c/kg for both classes. The bottom third of cows were 12c/kg sharper this week as well at €2.44/kg.

Analysis

In heifers this week, it is nearly a clean sweep of green, with all bar 350kg to 400kg animals seeing a positive increase, while even these lighter store types have only fallen by 2c/kg.

Prices have increased on average by 5c to 11c/kg, with the slightly higher increases for the top third of stock and consequentially lower increases for the bottom third.

Lighter store heifers are now back on par with store bullocks, with heavier store heifers now pipping bullocks ever so slightly.

Even with a slippage in heavy bullock prices (above 600kg), the sums still show that the live ring is the place to go with stock, though the margin is smaller.

A 670kg bullock with a 55% kill-out will yield a carcase weighing 368.5kg. At €6.70/kg, this animal will kill in to €2,468.95. The same bullock in the ring should realise a price of €2,539.30.

In the weanlings, lighter bulls have slipped, but, again, this is mainly in dairy-beef types, with exporters still active around rings for top-end bulls, while farmers are still prepared to pay for quality R and U grading types as well.

After a tough few weeks, heavy bulls weighing 400kg-plus have all been a sharper trade over the last week.