Calf numbers continue to drop off at calf marts this week, with a big drop-off in young calves being sold compared with the last few weeks.

There were just 375 male calves in the 10- to 20-day analysis this week, with 388 heifer calves in the same bracket.

Sales of older calves also came back, but are still across the 5,000 head mark in this week’s analysis.

While numbers are back, prices are up across most categories, with a few Northern Ireland (NI) buyers adding some life to the trade in the last week.

Older Aberdeen Angus bull calves are up €6/head this week to €172/head, while older Aberdeen Angus heifers are up €9/head on last week’s trading to bring them to €122/head.

Older Hereford bull and heifer calves are a similar trade to last week.

Older Friesian bull calves are coming in at €76/head this week, up €10/head on last week’s trading.

Belgian Blues continue to top the trade, with €253/head being paid for older bull calves this week.

Live exports of calves continue to perform very strongly, with calf exports up 11% so far in 2023.

Some 8,446 calves have been exported to Italy so far in 2023, with the majority of these being dairy-sired calves. This is up from 4,452 head in 2022.

Poland has also seen a huge growth in its market for calves, with 5,574 calves exported to Poland in 2023, up from 989 head for the same period in 2022.

There have been 58,882 calves exported to the Netherlands in 2023, up 3,513 head or 6% on the 2022 figure.

Spain is also an important market, with 25,749 calves headed to Spain so far in 2023.

The NI market for calves is also up, with an extra 1,015 calves exported to NI in 2023 up from 2,004 in 2022.

Belgium is the only country that has seen a reduced number of exports, with just 292 so far in 2023, down from 1,425 for the same period in 2021.

There appears to be really good appetite for Irish calves around Europe at the moment, with demand for weanlings also lifting in recent weeks.