Camera at the Mart: genuine stores on the up in Iveragh

Iveragh Mart, Co Kerry, held its biweekly cattle sale on Tuesday, which saw a decent entry of 210 bullocks, heifers, weanlings and cows.

Numbers are increasing week on week and a large entry is expected for the annual spring show and sale, which is due to take place in two weeks’ time.

In the bullock ring, lighter bullocks weighing under 400kg sold well, securing prices in the range of €2.80/kg and €3.33/kg.

There was a select bunch Angus cattle in this section that also sold well, securing prices of €2.83/kg, which was paid for a bullock weighing 350kg. They sold up to €3.23/kg with a bullock weighing 285kg selling for €920.

Charolais- and Limousin-bred cattle dominated the trade in the 400kg to 500kg weight category, selling between €2.70/kg and €3.00/kg.

Plainer dairy types

The few plainer dairy types on offer generally sold around €2.50/kg. Top call of the day went to a Charolais-cross bullock weighing 880kg that sold for €2,730 (€3.12/kg).

Iveragh has seen a huge increase in the number of purchasers since moving online.

There were plenty of farmer buyers active for the genuine, hairy store cattle and weanlings and it was noted that these non-fleshy types have seen an increase of 30c/kg to 40c/kg this spring.

It also appears as though well-fleshed cattle that have got plenty of feeding are well back in price, losing 20c/kg to 30c/kg across the board.

Quality continental weanling heifers typically sold from €2.90/kg to €3.43/kg and weanling bulls of similar type sold from €2.60/kg to €3.36/kg.

Cows generally sold from €2.00/kg to €2.70/kg, with the exception of a few plainer-type continental cull cows that sold just shy of the €2.00/kg mark.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager Mike Kissane said: “There was a great trade here in Iveragh. We are blessed with the quality of cattle down here, with nearly all continental and suckler-bred stock on offer. Online bidding has really helped our sales and we are seeing a huge increase in the number of purchasers online due to our location.”