Tuesday’s sale at Kilrush Mart saw a strong entry of over 400 cattle on offer for the special show and sale. The trade was quite strong once again, with plenty of farmers and agents active for all sorts.

Mart manager Martin McNamara said that the trade continues to be much better than what was expected with grass supplies tempting buyers out to the ringside.

He added that with prices being good in the last few weeks, this has tempted more farmers with cattle out earlier than usual also, leading to the strong increase in numbers.

Being in a dairy area, there was a good mix of cattle at the mart, with the best demand for continental-crosses from suckler cows. However, there was a good number of Angus and Herefords on offer also.

The quality had a big impact on the prices, with dairy-crosses not being met with quite as strong of demand.

The best quality on offer was the heifers and the tops of these sold to €1,780 for a top-quality 880kg Charolais. Other heavy heifers over 600kg sold mainly from €1,200 to €1,400/head, with some more going over €1,500/head.

Heifers from 500kg to 600kg were available in good numbers also, with the majority of these continentals. They sold mainly from €1,100 to €1,200/head. There were some plainer-quality types with a dairy background that sold from €1.80/kg and upwards.

Light weanling heifers under 400kg were a solid trade where quality was good, but plainer types were a little harder sold, with prices of €600 to €700 on offer. Top-quality weanlings made north of €850/head.

The bullock trade was similar to heifers, with good-quality heavy bullocks selling for well over €1,200/head and up to €2.30/kg for better-quality continentals over 600kg.

Those from 500kg to 600kg were a steady trade and sold mainly from €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg and up to €2.35/kg at times. Friesians made up to €1.77/kg for square types. Again, farmer demand was the main driver behind the trade. Stores from 400kg to 500kg were similar to previous weeks. Quality was key when it came to prices, with good-quality continentals making €2.20/kg to €2.30/kg and up to €2.50/kg for better types. Commission rates are 1.4% to the seller to a maximum of €13 for singles and 1.2% to a maximum of €11 for doubles, and €9 to the buyer.