For the second week in a row, the mart trade has eased, with almost all categories of cattle sold in mart back in price this week.

There hasn’t been any one single shock to the trade, but a combination of weather changing and higher numbers than anticipated has tempered the trade a little.

Wet weather has meant the majority of cattle have been housed around the country.

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Some mart managers explained that housing is a sensitive time on cattle farms, with farmers reluctant to put pressure on housing space until things settle for a few weeks.

Live exporters have also been a little quieter in the last two weeks and that reduced demand has taken its toll on the weanling trade.

Cooling off

A cooling off in factory circles also meant that factory agents were a little quieter over the last seven days.

Kilkenny Mart had 860 cattle at its sale last Thursday, with bullocks dropping by 200 head on the previous week, although this was made up by extra heifers.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Kilkenny mart auctioneer George Candler said: “On the bullock front, the best price for Friesian stores was €4.16/kg for five young bullocks weighing 385kg selling for €1,600. The bulk of the Friesians are generally ranging from €3.40/kg to €3.80/kg.

“Our cull cow sale last Tuesday shows that buyers are still anxious for cows, with Friesians ranging from €1.80/kg to €3.65/kg and continentals €3.30.kg to €4.30/kg.

“There is a thought in southern mart circles that numbers have peaked and sales will get a lot smaller in the next few weeks as we close out 2025.”

Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that a lot are dominated by red arrows, a sign that the trade is moving downward.

All types of bullocks were back in price this week, with heavier bullocks taking the biggest hit. Top-quality bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg weight category came in at €4.84/kg this week, back 24c/kg on the previous week.

Average-quality bullocks in the same weight bracket came in at €4.28/kg this week, back 18c/kg on the previous week.

Lighter bullocks were also back in price, with poorer-quality Friesians and Aberdeen Angus dairy-cross bullocks all back 10c to 13c/kg on the previous week.

Heifers had a better week, with top-quality heifers in the 500kg to 600kg weight bracket coming in 2c/kg higher than the previous week.

The heifer trade in general was relatively unchanged from the previous week, with most weight and quality categories just showing minor declines.

The weanling bull trade endured a tough week’s trading, with heavier bulls bearing the brunt of the reductions.

Top-quality heavy bulls over 450kg came in at €5.32/kg this week, back 36c/kg on the previous week. Top-quality bulls in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket were back 16c/kg to €6.14/kg.

Weanling heifers were also back in price, with average heifers in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket back 21c/kg this week.

Heavy heifers were up a little, with average heifers in the 400kg to 450kg weight bracket up 9c/kg on the previous week.