The dispersal sale of the Celtic Fleckvieh herd took place on the home farm of Gerard and Angela Brickley in Co Laois last Saturday.

A big crowd, accompanied by a strong presence on the Irish Farmers Journal online bidding platform MartBids, meant that competition was hot for all lots. All but one of the 120 lots on offer sold.

And while clearance was good, prices were even better, with particular demand for in-calf heifers and young stock.

Top price

That said, when it came to overall top price, it was a rising four-year-old cow that took the plaudits.

Securing a bid of €5,700 was a Hutera daughter that is projected to give 10,300kg this year for her second lactation.

With super looks and out of a cow that gave nearly 8,000kg at 9.24% of combined solids, she has it all.

Scanned carrying twins to Der Beste, she was eventually knocked down to new dairy entrant Tommy Harte. The Monaghan buyer proved a big presence at the sale, securing 18 lots in total.

Harte featured on these pages only a few weeks ago as he sold his 150-head pedigree beef herd and is installing robots to go milking a full herd of Fleckvieh.

Next in line was an in-calf heifer daughter of the sale topper that hit the market at €5,000. This Mustang daughter, born January 2020, sold due in February to Maxi P.

A number of interested parties meant auctioneer Denis Barrett had no problem getting bids as she quickly rose from her €2,000 opener.

Powerful cow

Securing a bid of €4,000 was lot 48, a four-year-old second-calver carrying twins to GS Hut AB. This powerful cow was again backed by production, with both her dam and granddam exceeding the 10,000kg lactation.

Top of the autumn-calving heifers was a Mahogany daughter that secured a bid of €3,800. Due next month to Maxi P, this stylish heterozygous polled heifer is out of an 8,149kg first-calver.

Overall, cows in milk or near calving averaged just shy of €3,000, with a 100% clearance. The average for in-calf heifers settled at €2,750.

A small number of autumn weanling heifers and calves were also offered for sale.

Autumn-born weanlings had an average of nearly €2,139, with this pushing closer to €2,200 for the six spring-born heifers on offer.

Top price of the young heifers was €3,100 for an October 2020 daughter of Vollkimmen. This heterozygous polled heifer is out of a Willie daughter that averaged 8,300kg of milk in her first four lactations.

Gerard and Angela Brickley have given much time to the Fleckvieh breed since they started milking ahead of the milk quota abolition in 2015.

While they will no longer be milking, they will continue to focus on the promotion of the breed in Ireland and concentrate more on their semen business, Celtic Fleckvieh Ireland.