The cost of young dairy cows and heifers has jumped 20-25% compared to last spring, on the back of higher milk prices and tighter livestock numbers.

Farmers selling in-calf heifers off-farm report lively demand, with high-EBI heifers from commercial herds making around €2,000/head – a lift of €500-600/head on last spring. Strong farmer buying for all classes of dairy stock has also been a feature of recent herd clearance sales.

An average of €2,650/head was paid recently in Kilmallock Mart for 76 in-calf heifers and cows of differing ages.

The cows and heifers were not calved, but were “beginning to soften”, Denis Kirby of Kilmallock Mart said.

Kirby said the sale went “very, very well”, with over €3,000/head paid for a number of second- and third-calvers.

The springing heifers made up to €2,500/head, with most sold for around €2,300/head.

“You’d buy very little for less than €1,800/head, and that will tell you what the trade is like,” Kirby maintained.

It was a similar story in Carnew Mart, where a dairy clearance sale this week attracted farmers from right across the southeast.

A top price of €3,650 was paid for a cow at the sale, with mart manager David Quinn explaining that 20 of the 50 calved cows made “north of €3,000/head”.

Quinn described the herd as “top quality”, with a mix of pedigree and pedigree non-registered stock.

The freshly calved cows generally average €2,700-2,800/head, with the springers averaging €2,200-2,300/head.

The yearling heifers, which weighed 260-270kg, sold for €1,000-1,150/head, while most of the Friesian heifer calves made €400-500/head.