There was a marginal lift in calf numbers in Bandon Mart this week, with a more noticeable rise in prices for Friesian bull calves especially. There was a 99% clearance of an entry of 1,394 calves.

Speaking after the sale, mart manager Tom McCarthy said: "There was a massive improvement on the last two weeks. There was probably a few buyers came too expecting a bargain, but they bought away anyway. Shippers were much more active.

"If the weather settled any bit for a week or 10 days, it would help clear out the small bit of a backlog that has built up.

"We'd also be hoping the second weekly sale which will start this Thursday will be a help. With sailings on Thursdays, it offer exporters the opportunity to go from Bandon to the boat."

Friesian bulls

Settled sailing conditions proved to be a massive boost for the shipping calf. They generally made between €30 and €85.

This one-month-old bull calf made €155.

Friesian bull calves for the home trade made up to €172, while Friesian heifers made between €101 and €240.

Beef-crosses

Good demand continued for the traditional beef breed-cross calves. Angus and Hereford calves generally made from €140 to €300 for both bulls and heifers, with a few exceptional lots exceeding this range.

Beef-cross calves that appear to have crossbred dairy background are selling at a similar rate to Friesian bull calves.

Continental calves were scarce, but were very much in demand. Bulls sold from €220 to €450, while heifers prices went from €200 to €380.

The amount of stronger calves in the mart is very evident, but there are a small number of lighter calves or dairy crossbreds with Jersey breeding selling for under €20/head.

Second sale

To cater for increasing numbers, Bandon Mart will commence a second weekly calf sale on Thursdays, beginning this week. This will be expected to run for March and April.

Adult cattle

There was 450 older stock available and these included a good selection of forward stores.

Among these, the outlier cattle were a very good trade, with most Hereford- and Angus-crosses exceeding €2/kg. Friesian store prices were ranging between €1.50/kg and €1.80/kg.

Prices from the sale

This one-month-old heifer calf made €165.

This one-month-old Belgian Blue bull made €312.

These 34-day-old bull calves made €82/head.

This group of Angus heifer calves averaged €175.

This 26-day-old heifer calf sold for €215.

A dozen Friesian bull calves, the oldest of which was 34 days old, averaged €110.

This pair of 34-day-old Angus heifers sold for €112.

This continental bull calf sold for €290.

This group of calves averaged €62/head.

This one-month-old Angus bull, he sold for €155.

This group of Limousin-cross bull calves sold for €290.

This Belgian Blue calf sold for €230.