Marts are slowly getting back to business this week as traditional grass buyers move out to purchase stock. Many of these summer grazing farmers would have sold cattle in October/November and would have been insulated from the current trend in beef prices.

Good weather has driven grass growth in the last week and this has prompted farmers to look for cattle. A number of exporters have also been very active in the market over the last two weeks sourcing suitable bulls for export.

The phone is hopping all week with customers looking for grass cattle

While throughput is drastically reduced in marts, mart managers around the country are reporting very good demand for store cattle suitable for grass. Dowra Mart manager Terry McGovern said: “The phone is hopping all week with customers looking for grass cattle, but we see that every year for the month of April. Light weanlings are a great trade with €2.80-€3/kg being paid for the top-quality lots here last Saturday.

“Heavier cattle are harder shifted with €2/kg buying a lot of these.”

A number of marts have trialled online bidding with over 1,000 cattle sold

Most beef finishers operated a wait-and-see approach with regard to purchases in the last two weeks. Dry cows have also take a big hit in marts with heavy cows back €300-€400/head in the last four weeks.

A number of marts have trialled online bidding with over 1,000 cattle sold via this system in the last week. The system seems to have been well received by both buyers and sellers with no time delays on selling and a simple user-friendly way to bid for cattle.