The cattle trade in Carnross Mart has got off to a good start, with camera at the mart present at Tuesday evening’s weanling bull and heifer sale.

This quality 320kg Charolais-cross heifer born January 2018 sold for €780 (€2.44/kg).

The trade was said to be helped by a combination of firm buying from specialist finishers, live export activity and farmers starting to purchase cattle for summer-grazing systems.

This top-quality Belgian Blue heifer, weighing 375kg and born March 2018, sold for €1,045 (€2.79/kg).

Good-quality continental bulls in the 300kg to 350kg bracket sold from €2.40/kg to €2.70/kg, while top-quality lots weighing around 400kg sold in the region of €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg.

This 250kg Limousin-cross bull born April 2018 sold for €655 (€2.57/kg).

Heavier feeding bulls were also a solid trade, selling from €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg, while there was brisk demand for light Angus bulls weighing 270kg to 370kg, with export demand helping this category and prices reported as ranging between €1.90/kg and €2.30/kg.

This good-quality 270kg Angus bull born March 2018 sold for €605 (€2.24/kg).

Good-quality continental heifers were also said to be a solid trade, with nice-quality continental heifers selling on average from €2.20/kg to €2.40/kg, while a selection of excellent-quality lots increased to €2.80/kg.

This 400kg Belgian Blue-cross bull born November 2017 sold for €820 (€2.05/kg).

Plainer-quality dairy-bred lots or cattle with age against them were reported as selling back to €2.00/kg or slightly under.

A dairy sale will be held on Thursday 17 January, while the mart will host a clearance sale of 52 Limousin-Charolais-cross spring-calving cows on Tuesday 29 January.