In Blessington, last Saturday, milking cows made good money bolstered by the presence of British and Northern Irish buyers. An on-farm reduction sale of 52 autumn calving, pedigree Holstein cows, by Taaffe Auctions, saw freshly calved young cows make an average of between €1,500 to €1,800 each.

Michael Taaffe commented that there is a very strong demand for dairy stock outside the Republic, due to a strong milk price and no milk quota worries. He has several more sales taking place over the coming weeks.

Livestock exporter David Clarke bought stock on behalf of British clients at the Blessington sale and reports steady demand for dairy stock from Britain, with in-calf heifers typically making €1,000 ex farm and freshly calved stock making €1,200 to €1,400.

In-calf heifers

In Nenagh, last week, there was a clearance sale of 36 in-calf heifers from the one herd with auctioneer Michael Harty reporting fair demand. The average EBI of the heifers averaged around €150 and all were in-calf to an Aberdeen Angus stock bull. Average weight was around 440kg and prices averaged €1,100 with higher EBI, stronger heifers making €1,200. The next dairy sale is scheduled for 4 December.

Many farmers are selling privately and are looking to sell in-calf heifers before housing. Prices for well reared, high EBI heifers in-calf to high EBI AI sires are typically averaging €1,300. This is for heifers with strong genetics for both milk solids (>€40 milk EBI) and fertility (>€80 fertility EBI).