The cattle trade continues to perform very strongly, with farmers and feedlot buyers still very active around rings.

A strong beef price has prompted some real confidence around rings in recent weeks. This was evident in Raphoe last Thursday, where 100 cattle went through the ring with close to 100% clearance.

Dry cows were scarce, with demand not as strong as weeks previous, especially for the dairy types. Cows made from €650/head as far as €1280/head. There was a few good sucklers in the sale also with these making from €900 to €1,400 for both springers and cow and calf outfits.

This April 2019-born Hereford bullock weighed 495kg and sold for €940 (€1.89/kg).

Bullocks

Bullocks saw a brisk trade, however, they were “back slightly on last week” mart staff commented. Poorer-quality bullocks were harder shifted compared to previous weeks. Bullocks over 400kg made an average of €2/kg to €2.15/kg for better continental bred bullocks. Heavier bullocks crossing the 500kg bracket were also making around the €2/kg.

Bulls seemed to be the hardest hit on the previous week, with plainer continental bulls and dairy bulls proving a difficult sell.

There were a few heavy bulls over 650kg and these realised an average of €1,570. Lighter dairy bred bulls weighing 350kg sold for up to €2/kg.

This April 2020-born Hereford bull weighed 315kg and sold for €580 (€1.84/kg).

Best trade

Heifers saw the best trade on the day, with some of these selling for over €3/kg. Some dairy-bred heifers under 300kg were selling for €1.50-€1.70/kg.

With store heifers in demand throughout, heifers weighing over 500kg sold for up to €2.65/kg. Lighter continental heifers from 250kg up to 350kg sold for an average of €3/kg. Heifers weighing 400kg and over seen an average of €2.75/kg for the top heifers in this category whilst some heifers at this weight would have also hit €2.50/kg.

Tough 12 months

Speaking on Monday to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager Anne Harkin said: “It’s great to have all our customers back around the ring, it’s been a really tough 12 months on everybody, but farmers and my mart staff have dealt with everything brilliantly. We are still being very careful around social distancing and hopefully we will get through the next few months without any hiccups.”