There was excellent demand for dairy cows at a clearance sale in Corrin Mart on Friday last.
Even with the inclusion of six cows that were not in-calf, the average price exceeded €3,000, reflecting the esteem in which the herd was held.
Consisting of 80 cows and 20 in-calf heifers, there was a top price of €4,750.
The herd averaged 8,038kg of milk, with 4.33% butterfat and 3.7% protein, giving a combined milk solids of 655kg.
Most cows were due to calve from January to March 2027. In all, 13 sold for over €4,000 and they were closely followed by another cohort which changed hands for over €3,700.
‘Good trade’
Only a handful of cows traded for less or close to €2,000 and those that did were higher lactation cows or ones that were empty.
Mart manager Sean Leahy said: “It was a very good trade overall. This was a very well-bred herd from the late Bill Rolf from Belgooly and it drew a lot of interest.
“They had everything, very well-bred with serious kg of solids and anything from those first, second and third calvers were making €3,000 and up.
“Ultimately, there were 26 buyers, with the majority of the cows staying in Cork.
“About 70 out of 100 stayed local. One farmer bought 30 and five went to one farmer in Donegal.
“Most people bought multiples, with only eight singles in the sale. With a herd like this, you had people who were looking for a few very good cows more than numbers.”
Quiet autumn
Relative to other years, it’s been a quiet enough autumn in terms of dairy cow sales, with farmers depopulated by TB being among the bigger customers.
He added: “Cows and clearance sales are scarce enough at the moment and cow demand is very strong.
“There are a lot of people looking for young cows and they’re not there in great numbers at the moment.
“TB is still an issue and people are looking to top up herds after having an outbreak of it, so there’s more demand than supply at the moment.
“We don’t rightly know what the heifer trade will be like yet, as weather has been good and farmers aren’t as quick to sell them for now.
Our in-calf heifer sale is coming up in early December so that will give a good idea how those prices will be for the spring.”
