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Live sales of cattle continue to return firm prices despite marts seeing unseasonably high throughput for August.
Prices for heavy fleshed stores continue to return 220p to 230p/kg for U grading types, up 40p/kg on last year, or £280 per head on a 700kg bullock.
Plainer types are making around the 200p to 210p/kg mark, which is also up 40p/kg on last year. Friesian bullocks are returning 150p to 185p/kg at most sales.
Charolais and Limousin weanlings are returning 250p/kg for animals weighing 350kg to 400kg
Good-quality, mid-weight stores are making 220p to 240p/kg compared to 200p/kg last August. Charolais and Limousin weanlings are returning 250p/kg for animals weighing 350kg to 400kg, while lighter types close on 300kg are selling for 10p to 20p/kg more for continental types.
Throughput
Difficult ground conditions saw a spike in throughput at most marts last week, but mart mangers indicate numbers have eased at sales held during the first half of this week.
A trend across recent sales has been a rise in lighter, plainer stores weighing 280kg to 400kg as buyers look to offload early in case the current prices don’t last, and before the traditional autumn surge of cattle coming off grass.
Sheep
Demand for fat lambs is solid and broadly in line with factory prices of 440p to 445p/kg. Agents buying for southern Irish plants continue to compete for numbers with live sales this week returning £90 to £93 for factory fit lambs, with heavier butcher type lambs making as much as £96.
Breeding sales
Breeding hogget sales continue across the country and mart managers’ report no let-up in buying interest.
At Omagh, hoggets sold upwards to £180 with similar prices paid at Swatragh. Markethill sold hoggets to £215.
At Ballymena, the annual sale of Greyface Mule hoggets averaged £173 across 2,851 head, up £23 on last year. Mule ewe lambs averaged £148, a rise of £31.50 on last year for 627 animals sold.
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