There were 1,665 bulls loaded on to the Alondria livestock carrier last Wednesday. / Chloe Goggins
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Maxwell Livestock made history last week assembling the first boatload of animals that the Roscommon-based exporter has shipped in its long history of exporting animals.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal Derek Maxwell said: “We were delighted with how it went. It’s a huge undertaking with timing for everything being critical. Our team put a huge effort in to make sure everything went well and it was great to get everything loaded safely.
“There were 1,665 bulls loaded on to the Alondria livestock carrier last Wednesday. The ship docked on Tuesday 7 April in Algeria, with the bulls unloaded and the customers very happy.”
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While live exports are back in 2026, there is a better outlook for the rest of 2026.
Bulls penned comfortable on the Alondria. / Chloe Goggins
Poor weather conditions and complications around restrictions due to the Irish outbreak of Bluetongue meant that some cattle exports were delayed the last number of months, but with these issues ironed out, activity is expected to ramp up again.
Quality
Maxwell Livestock is hopeful of assembling another load for export in early summer. Maxwell said: “Our customers are happy with the quality of the Irish cattle. The health of the weanling is still number one for them though and I couldn’t stress enough the importance for suckler farmers to vaccinate their stock against pneumonia.
“We are trying to build new markets but we can’t do that if the cattle aren’t healthy.”
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Maxwell Livestock made history last week assembling the first boatload of animals that the Roscommon-based exporter has shipped in its long history of exporting animals.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal Derek Maxwell said: “We were delighted with how it went. It’s a huge undertaking with timing for everything being critical. Our team put a huge effort in to make sure everything went well and it was great to get everything loaded safely.
“There were 1,665 bulls loaded on to the Alondria livestock carrier last Wednesday. The ship docked on Tuesday 7 April in Algeria, with the bulls unloaded and the customers very happy.”
While live exports are back in 2026, there is a better outlook for the rest of 2026.
Bulls penned comfortable on the Alondria. / Chloe Goggins
Poor weather conditions and complications around restrictions due to the Irish outbreak of Bluetongue meant that some cattle exports were delayed the last number of months, but with these issues ironed out, activity is expected to ramp up again.
Quality
Maxwell Livestock is hopeful of assembling another load for export in early summer. Maxwell said: “Our customers are happy with the quality of the Irish cattle. The health of the weanling is still number one for them though and I couldn’t stress enough the importance for suckler farmers to vaccinate their stock against pneumonia.
“We are trying to build new markets but we can’t do that if the cattle aren’t healthy.”
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