It was a case of ‘what goes up, must come down’ in the calf trade this week.

After two weeks of prices strengthening, there has been a price correction over the last seven days.

Numbers traded were also up almost 24% on the previous week, according to the ICBF calf price watch database, which will have contributed to the reduction in prices.

However, there is a general trend downwards in calf numbers over the last three weeks, which lends itself to more price volatility when looking on a week-on-week basis.

Early-maturing beef breeds of Angus and Hereford were back €22/head on average, with Angus heifers falling below the €150 mark for the first time this year, settling at an average price of €146.

Bull calves were back €30/head on last week to an average of €191.

Hereford heifers were back €20/head, while bulls were back €14/head to an average of €158 and €206 respectively.

A small number of Friesian bull calves continue to be traded. They were back €7/head to an average of €96 for the last seven days.