There was an entry of 263 head in last Friday’s general cattle sale in Cavan Mart.

This 2019-born Limousin-cross weanling heifer weighing 350kg sold for €770 (€2.20/kg).

Reporting on the trade, mart manager Gerry Murray said there was more positivity in the trade in the last two weeks following the rollout of Basic Payment Scheme payments.

This spring 2019-born Limousin heifer weighing 390kg sold for €870 (€2.23/kg).

Gerry said this injection of energy was badly needed, with the mood among beef finishers at a low level.

“There are plenty of buyers looking for cattle, the trouble is many of them can’t get finished stock slaughtered in any great numbers and are restricted in what they can buy.

This nice-quality yearling Limousin heifer weighing 445kg sold for €940 (€2.11/kg).

It’s a disappointing situation, as many farmers are under major pressure to move stock with feed costs mounting and cattle going overage or overweight.”

This spring 2018-born Simmental-cross heifer weighing 520kg sold for €880 (€1.69/kg).

These difficulties are especially reflected in the trade for weanling bulls weighing upwards of 400kg.

This Limousin-cross heifer, born in 2018 and weighing 420kg, sold for €820 (€1.95/kg).

Gerry said there were a few farmers selling entries of top-quality bulls in the region of €2/kg, with prices back €160 to €200 on returns achieved for equivalent quality cattle in 2018.

This Hereford-cross cow weighing 675kg sold for €860 (€1.27/kg).

Lighter bulls are less affected, with farmers opting to purchase and have the option of castrating. Nice-quality continental bulls weighing 280kg to 350kg sold from €2.30/kg to €2.55/kg on average, with top-quality lots exceeding this range.

This dairy Shorthorn cull cow weighing 420kg sold for €410 (€1.02/kg).

Plainer-quality lots sold back to €2/kg.

Heifer weanlings were a steady trade, with the price per kilo running behind bulls.

This Aberdeen Angus cow weighing 810kg sold for €1,050 (€1.30/kg).

Good-quality spring 2019-born Limousin and Charolais heifers sold from €2.10/kg to €2.35/kg on average. Store heifers sold upwards of €1.70/kg for 2018-born dairy-cross heifers with suckler-bred stock selling from €1.95/kg to €2.20/kg on average.

This good-quality Charolais-cross cow weighing 760kg sold for €1,260 (€1.66/kg).

Friday’s sale is reported as repeating the positive performance in cow sales of recent weeks. Fleshed suckler cows sold from €1.20/kg to €1.40/kg for O and R grading lots, with top-quality cows selling to €1.70/kg.

This young Salers-cross cow and Salers heifer calf sold for €1,350.

A small selection of exceptional-quality lots were capable of hitting €2/kg. Dairy cows coming direct from the parlour are a hard sell and are trading from €0.70/kg to €1/kg.

This aged Charolais-cross heifer weighing 545kg sold for €900 (€1.65/kg).

The mart is a subsidiary of Poles Co-op, which is currently celebrating a milestone year under the chair of Seamus Duffy, with the co-op in its 110th year of trading.