Mart numbers continue to track downward and it might be just as well with the direction of prices over the last few weeks.

Exporters continue to be a lot quieter than they have been in recent weeks.

In general, there is a smaller selection of weanlings to pick from in November, with the best of the weanlings likley sold at this stage.

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A cooling off in the beef trade hasn’t helped the trade for heavy cattle either, with factory agents notably quieter this week.

Despite the doom and gloom around the general trade, the one shining light is the trade for breeding stock.

This time last year, mart managers were reporting higher than normal dispersal sales of suckler cows.

Special sales

Special sales of maiden heifers in Elphin and in-calf heifers in Balla saw some big prices being paid for breeding stock, as has been the case all autumn.

Some of this is a renewed confidence and some is the fact that heavy cull cows are still coming into close to €3,000.

If a farmer has also sold a good weanling for €2,000, you can see why €5,000 is common around the in-calf heifer ring. It’s great to see, but it also means that weanling prices need to stay at the €6/kg mark to make money from some of these replacements currently being bought.

Another highlight of last week was the Carrick-on-Shannon Winter Fair held at the showgrounds.

Speaking to auctioneer Francis McGowan, he described the trade for adult cattle and bull calves as electric last Monday.

Online bidding dominated the day, with almost 6,000 people tuning into the sale on martbids.ie. All eyes now turn to the 360 entries of weanling heifers for next Monday’s sale, with the pre-sale show taking place on Sunday.

Martbids

Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that, in general, bullocks were back in price this week.

Lighter bullocks in the better-quality category came in at €4.95/kg this week, back 10c/kg on the previous week.

Heavier bullocks in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket were also back this week to the tune of 7c to 8c/kg.

Heavier bullocks over 600kg actually held steady this week, with top-quality bullocks in the 600kg-plus weight category coming in at €4.55/kg.

Heifers also tracked back a bit this week, with lighter heifers hit hardest. Average-quality heifers in the 350kg to 400kg weight bracket came in at €4.17/kg this week, back 13c/kg on the previous week.

Heavier heifers met a steadier trade this week, with top-quality heifers over 600kg coming in at €4.86/kg, unchanged from last week.

In the weanling rings, numbers continue to get smaller, with most mart managers reporting a drop-off in numbers.

Bull weanlings met a steady trade this week, with top-quality bull weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €6/kg.

Average-quality bull weanlings in the same weight bracket came in at €5.20/kg. Heifer weanlings had a more positive week, with top-quality heifer weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €6.23/kg this week, up 33c/kg on the previous week.