Tuesday’s general sale in Athenry Mart featured over 250 cattle. Speaking to mart manager Alan Barry after the sale, this number was back from the 350 sold the previous week but is to be expected after the bank holiday weekend.

“Trade was OK,” said Barry. “Good-quality, continental cows are very much in demand at the minute. Bullocks and heifers were steady too.”

Barry also commented on the spring as a whole: “This year we didn’t really get the few bumper weeks that we would have normally got. It was a much steadier flow of cattle and prices were steady too.”

Barry has also noticed a slight drop in farmer activity this spring, likely driven by the high level of uncertainty in the sector at the moment, particularly with summer beef prices struggling to come up.

In the mart of late, he commented on less factory-fit cattle entering the ring. “I suppose there are less people there to buy those cattle and bring them straight to the factory than there would have been traditionally.”

Bullocks

There was a stiffer trade for bullocks with prices slightly back across all weight bands but still firm. Table 1 gives a full breakdown on prices.

Bullocks 350-400kg averaged €1.69/kg with the better-quality continentals pushing upwards of €2.25/kg. Plainer dairy lots struggled and fell over 40c/kg for the week to €1.29/kg.

Four hundred to 500kg cattle averaged €2/kg. Quality commanded a price of €2.30/kg and beyond, but again plainer lots struggled and most were sold at less than €1.60/kg.

Heavier bullocks from 500-600kg averaged just under the €2/kg mark with quality continentals making over €2.30/kg. Heavier dairy lots had a firmer price with €1.70/kg being given for better-fleshed animals.

Bullocks 600kg and over were a similar trade to the 500kg ones, averaging €1.96/kg. Again, the dairy crosses here were strong with €1.80/kg the going rate.

Heifers

There was a mixed trade in the heifer ring with a lively demand for the lighter animal but slightly reduced demand for the heavier lots. Table 2 gives a full breakdown of prices.

In the 350-400kg weight band, €2.27/kg was the average price, up 18c/kg for the week, with the best quality making close to €2.50/kg.

Four-hundred to 500kg heifers averaged €1.94/kg with dairy stock averaging €1.50/kg and better-quality continentals hitting over €2.30/kg.

Heavy 500-600kg heifers averaged €1.82/kg and continentals made closer to €2.30/kg.

Dry cows

The sale featured over 90 dry cows. Across the board, prices were firm.

Lighter Friesian lots started at just under €1.10/kg up to a best price per kg of €1.36/kg for the better-fleshed type. Per head, prices ranged from €640 to €990, with a lot running from €100 to €200 along with their weight.

On the continental side of things, prices per kg started at a little under €1.40/kg up to €2/kg by and large with a few young well-fleshed cows making over the €2/kg mark.

Some noteworthy prices here included €1,610 for an 800kg, 2015-born, Limousin-cross cow and €1,515 for a 785kg Simmental-cross cow born in 2015.

Athenry Mart

Commission is 1.75% to the seller and €9.25/head to the buyer. Athenry Mart has two weekly cattle sales; bullocks, heifers and dry cows on Tuesdays and cows, calves and weanlings on Thursdays.

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.