Thursday's sale in Kilkenny Mart saw a smaller entry than the previous week, with numbers back 160 to a sale offering of 640 cattle.

There is solid demand still for quality continental stores, but the heavy beef-type bullock and heifer is back, with the beef lots selling from €3.30/kg to €3.70/kg, with €4/kg to be got - but only for the top-quality Limousin, Charolais and Belgian Blue lots.

There was a lot more buyers for the lighter store cattle, with grass buyers dominating the trade for cattle weighing below 500kg.

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Store bullocks weighing from 350kg to 450kg were able to cross €5/kg for top-quality lots, with the general run from €4.10/kg to €4.70/kg for suckler-bred lots, with dairy-type stock falling below the €4/kg mark.

Store heifers were a great trade also, with the top-end lots crossing €5/kg, with more traditional-bred cattle and cattle with dairy influence selling from €4/kg to €4.50/kg.

Strong competition

There was strong competition ringside for cattle, with just shy of 70% of cattle purchased ringside and over 30% purchased by online bidders.

Auctioneer George Chandler commented on the current beef trade: “There are a number of farmers around that will not be feeding as many cattle after this year.

"2025 was a great year, but there are farmers losing a lot of money on the cattle they bought and are killing now.

"We saw a drop in cattle numbers this week as we approach summer, but there’s not as many cattle sold this spring as there was in 2025.”

Bullocks

This Limousin-cross bullock weighing 770kg and born 04/08/23 sold for €3,140 (€4.08/kg).

This Limousin-cross bullock weighing 770kg and born 21/02/24 sold for €3,120 (€4.05/kg).

These seven Charolais-cross bullocks born August 2025 and weighing 402kg sold for €2,040 (€5.07/kg).

These four Limousin-cross bullocks weighing 475kg and born April 2025 sold for €2,170 (€4.57/kg).

This Hereford-cross bullock weighing 415kg and born 04/07/23 sold for €1,610 (€4.14/kg).

This Angus-cross bullock weighing 655kg and born 08/03/24 sold for €2,160 (€3.3/kg).

This Friesian-cross bullock weighing 500kg and born 25/02/24 sold for €1,620 (€3.24/kg).

This Angus-cross bullock weighing 515kg and born 01/04/24 sold for €2,170 (€4.21/kg).

Heifers

This Charolais-cross heifer weighing 530kg and born 12/06/24 sold for €2,130 (€4.02/kg).

These six Limousin-cross heifers weighing 350kg and born April 2025 sold for €1,440 (€4.14/kg).

This Charolais-cross heifer weighing 540kg and born 15/02/24 sold for €2,240 (€4.15/kg).

These three Angus-cross heifer weighing 272kg and born May 2025 sold for €1,070 (€4.04/kg).

These six Hereford-cross heifers weighing 370kg and born Feburary 2025 sold for €1,530 (€4.14/kg).

These seven Angus-cross heifers weighing 372kg and born February 2025 sold for €1,510 (€4.06/kg).

This Charolais-cross heifer weighing 400kg and born 14/03/25 sold for €1,680 (€4.2/kg).

This Angus-cross heifer weighing 350kg and born 28/03/25 sold for €1,400 (€4/kg).