Over 4,000 cattle are this week sailing for Turkey on two specialist livestock boats.

Viastar loaded close to 2,200 breeding heifers and Purcell Brothers have loaded just over 2,000 feeder bulls.

These two loads will bring the number of cattle that have been shipped there in 2017 close to 30,000.

Export companies continue to buy weanlings for delivery by truck to the European markets.

Total cattle exports up to 2 December stood at 179,071, an increase of 44,106 head on the same time in 2016.

Calf exports account for 28,653 of this increase, with the bulk of them going to the Netherlands and Spain and smaller numbers to Belgium.

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Two cattle boats waiting to load

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