The weekly sales in Thurles resumed on Monday after a week’s break due to the August bank holiday.

Around 100 heifers and 260 males were sold.

Speaking to manager Martin Ryan, he said: “Considering all the doom and gloom, it’s not too bad at all.”

“There was a nice number here for the time of the year, but there was less than what was booked in – I think that’s just a reflection of the uncertainly hanging over a lot of farmers at the minute.”

He added: “At the end of the day, there’s plenty of fodder and shed out there and a lot of people will feel they have to buy cattle regardless of what the price is. That will probably hold the mart trade up a bit.”

Bullocks

Table 1 below provides a summary of all males sold on the day.

Light store bullocks from 350kg to 400kg averaged €1.90/kg for the sale.

Friesian lots hovered around the €1.50/kg mark, while Angus- and Hereford-crosses ranged from €1.65/kg up to €2/kg for better-quality types.

A small selection of continental-crosses, ranged from €2.10/kg up to €2.45/kg.

From 400kg to 500kg, the average was €1.79/kg.

A large selection of Friesians featured in this category and these ranged from €1.40/kg to €1.60/kg.

Moving up on quality, Angus and Hereford cattle sold for €1.70/kg to €1.90/kg.

Continentals made from €1.90/kg to a top price of €2.21/kg for a pair of 16-month-old 487kg Limousin-crosses (€1,075/head).

Heavier 500kg to 600kg lots averaged just under €1.70/kg.

Again, Friesians made up a large cohort of this category, running from a floor of €1.40/kg to €1.60/kg.

There was little to separate Angus-crosses with Limousin- and Charolais-cross only quality.

All ranged from €1.65/kg to a top of €2.08/kg.

Heifers

Table 2 below gives a summary of the small offering of heifers.

From 350kg to 400kg, store heifers averaged €1.80/kg. Top-quality came close to and over €2/kg in some cases, while poorer-quality dairy lots settled closer to €1.50/kg.

Moving up the weights, 400kg to 500kg lots averaged €1.86/kg.

Plain types still made over €1.70/kg in most cases, while nice-quality animals saw the hammer drop at over €1.95/kg most times.

Forward store lots from 500kg to 600kg averaged €1.85/kg, with quality securing a price closer to €2/kg.

Mid-Tipperary Mart

To the seller, commission rates for bullocks, heifers and cows are €10/head for singles and €9/head for multiples, plus 0.05%.

For calves, its €8/head for a single calf plus 0.05%.

To the buyer, commission is €10/head for bullocks, heifers and cows and €7/head for calves.

Analysis for this report was generated from the MartBids app. MartBids is a collaboration between the Irish Farmers Journal and livestock marts. The app is available for download on iPhone or Android on the App Store or Google Play. With this app, all of the information that is displayed on the mart board is now available on your smartphone, long before the animal enters the sales ring.