Milk price cuts put pressure on heifer sales

The buoyant trade for dairy replacements is continuing to hold for top-quality lots, but demand has taken a hit on the back of the milk price cuts.

There was a strong trade for heifers in two recent sales in Kilmallock and Fermoy.

But the same bite for dairy stock was not evident in other sales, while farmers selling privately claimed that recent milk price cuts had impacted demand.

An average of €2,424/hd was paid in Kilmallock Mart this week for 40 spring calving heifers.

Auctioneer Denis Kirby said there was lively demand for the stock, with prices ranging from €1,950/hd to a high of €2,850/hd.

Size, power and a good EBI were the determining factors in the price, Kirby said.

The best price of the sale was paid for a freshly calved heifer, which made €3,300.

“Freshly calved heifers are scarce and have been selling well all summer,” Kirby pointed out.

“You always have a lad who is looking for a few to top up the tank,” he maintained.

Corrin

It was a similar story in Fermoy, Co Cork last Saturday, where some very fancy prices were recorded when Corrin Mart hosted the sale of replacement stock from the well-known Lisduff Herd.

Calved heifers made from €2,800/hd to €5,000/hd, with in-calf heifers selling from €2,400 to €3,600/hd.

A total of 25 three-week-old heifer calves made from €800/hd to €2,100/hd, Sean Leahy of Corrin Mart said.

In Kilkenny this week, in-calf heifers sold from €1,250 to €1,400 per head, while first calvers that are back in-calf sold from €1,400 to €1,800 a head.

“The trade has not been as bullish since the pull in milk prices,” maintained livestock auctioneer George Candler.

This view was also shared by a number of farmers looking to sell heifers privately.

While €2,500-3,000/hd was freely available for good-quality heifers at the end of the summer, the general run of prices is now moving back to the €2,500/hd mark.

“The whack in the milk price and the weather has put manners on fellows and softened the trade,” one west of Ireland farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.

This drop in in-calf heifer prices could restrict the availability of breeding stock in the short-term as farmers who were considering selling heifers opt instead to cull more cows.

The trade for cull cows remains extremely strong, with good solid cows out of the parlour making up to €3.50/kg at Kilmallock Mart this week.

Up to €2.90/kg was paid for Jersey-cross cows.