It’s very much been a game of swings and roundabouts over the last while with the cattle trade in Ireland.

One week, we see a major lift in bullocks, only for them to fall the following week and be leapfrogged by heifer prices – and vice versa.

The same has been the case for weanlings, where last week we saw significant increases across the board, while, this week, significant price cuts have been in place, though not to the same extent as adult cattle.

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Grass buyers had been shoring up much of the April trade and it seems these purchasers have much of their buying done for now, while a slippage in factory prices has also caused a shakier feel to the live trade, especially for forward and heavier cattle.

Numbers in marts have also contracted, as is the norm for the time of the year, but even this fall-off in numbers did not shore up prices.

Looking towards the bullock ring, better-quality types were the most affected, with lighter bullocks falling comparatively to heavier bullocks.

This is unusual, in that we generally see heavier cattle take the biggest hit, with overall prices for the top third of bullocks falling by 15c to 18c/kg, with an 80c/kg difference now between a 350kg to 400kg bullock and a 600kg-plus bullock.

Poorer-quality bullocks have generally fared better than average-quality bullocks, though lots weighing between 500kg and 600kg have taken a strong hit across all quality types, falling 15c to 18c/kg.

Heifers have also, unfortunately, taken a hammering. Lighter heifers weighing between 350kg and 400kg are the worst off, with the top third of heifers having been up 20c/kg last week now cut down by 44c/kg.

It’s no great news for heavier types, with lots weighing between 500kg and 600kg last week seeing a slip in price of 8c/kg compounded by another cut of 11c/kg. Heifers weighing over 600kg are worse off, falling 23c/kg in a fortnight.

On your 620kg heifer, that’s coming to a sickening sum of €142.60.

Finishers will invariably be getting a hot neck feel if we see another fall in price next week, which could further accelerate price decreases if an influx of farmers seek to offload cattle to try to cut their losses.

Weanlings

Weanlings aren’t in as bad a boat. Last week saw a huge increase in price per kilo and even the prices recorded this week for bulls leaves sellers better off in many cases than two weeks ago.

Bulls weighing 200kg to 300kg are still up 20c/kg on two weeks ago, while the popular 300kg to 400kg weight bracket is still 17c/kg stronger than a fortnight ago as well.

Heavier bulls are exactly the same as they were two weeks ago. There has been strong talk that some leading exporters are set to go toe to toe over the next few weeks to fill orders, so a rebound in price could well be on the cards.

Heifer weanlings failed to jump as high in price as their male counterparts last week and fell slightly harder this week, meaning price is back overall on the late April trade, though numbers of weanling heifers passing though rings are extremely low overall.