The weanling trade continues to be the highlight of the cattle trade this week, with exporters continuing to drive the trade for weanlings.

Numbers of weanlings have started to tighten, with a lot of autumn-calving suckler herds offloading autumn-born weanlings directly out of the shed before turnout.

Difficult grazing conditions in the west have also meant some farmers have moved earlier with weanlings this year in a bid to reduce grazing demand and build up silage stocks in the next few weeks.

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This is expected to drive the trade on further in the coming weeks, as export demand shows no signs of abating.

Table

Taking a look at this week’s Irish Farmers Journal Martbids table, we see that the top end of bull weanlings in the most popular 300kg to 400kg weight bracket topped out at €3.80/kg this week, a 6c/kg lift on the previous week.

Good-quality calves in the 200kg to 300kg bracket saw a little reduction this week, but are still trading at €3.83/kg for the top-end calves.

The top third of bull weanlings weighing from 400kg to 450kg came in at €3.50/kg this week, which was a similar trade to last week.

Heifer weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket were a similar trade to last week, with the top third of 300kg to 400kg heifer weanlings coming in at €3.53/kg this week or €1,235/head for a 350kg weanling.

Heavier heifer calves in the 400kg to 450kg bracket came in at €3.50/kg, a 3c/kg rise on last week’s price.

The bullock and heifer trade remained under a little pressure last week. However, mart managers are reporting more interest in grazing cattle this week. An improvement in the weather will lift the interest from the summer grazing customers, with a lift in the trade expected from this week on.

Average 400kg to 500kg bullocks (typical out-to-grass stock) came in at €2.77/kg this week, a drop of 3c/kg. Heifers were a similar trade, with slight drops across the board.

Dry cows continue to remain an exceptional trade, with factory agents still very hungry for finished cows. Top-quality young cows are making as much as €2.90/kg in some marts this week.

Continental feeder cows are selling from €1.70/kg to €2.30/kg, depending on weight, while Friesian cows lacking flesh are selling anywhere from €1.20/kg to €1.60/kg.

The live export trade continues to perform very strongly. During the week ending 9 April, there were 17,038 cattle exported, which takes exports for the year to date to 125,727 head. This figure is 3,250 head above last year.

For the year to date, cattle export figures are operating 11% ahead of the same period last year. The higher level of export activity is driven primarily by an increase in the number of calves being traded with customers in Europe.

The Netherlands, Spain and Italy have continued to be the most important markets for Irish calves. Turkey remains a very important market for Irish weanlings, with huge numbers of Irish weanlings travelling the eastern European route to Turkey.