In pictures: shippers put floor under trade at Carrigallen

A special sale of weanling bulls and heifers Carrigallen Mart, Co Leitirm, on Saturday was met with a challenging trade for sellers.

Anecdotal evidence suggested that prices for all types were back by between €100/head and €200/head on the same time last year.

In total, some 260 bulls and 105 heifers were down for selling on Saturday.

This was the largest sale of the autumn so far in Carrigallen, with farmers in the area taking an opportunity to sell calves earlier than usual rather than putting stock in the shed.

The heavy rain in August would also have been a contributing factor for the sharp increase in numbers.

Bulls

In particular, heavy bulls over 400kg saw a particularly difficult trade.

Where weanling bulls were commanding in the region of €2.80/kg and above last year, this weekend’s sale saw good-quality weanling bulls making closer to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg.

Only the very fine younger bulls made anything close to €2.80/kg.

Two competing livestock exporters, as well as a larger border-based feedlot, kept more of the regular buyers honest.

Golden and white Charolais bulls were the animals most in the demand.

No stars, no problem

In the heifer ring, anything other than a good-quality Charolais or Limousin struggled to make an impact.

A heifer with four or five stars did not make any significant impact on the sale price.

Plenty of good-quality black Limousins or Angus with stars to help farmers in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) did not do as well as an R or U graded Charolais.