Malachy Tighe of the Tara Angus herd, based outside Batterstown in Co Meath, hosted his first female production sale on-farm over the weekend.

Branded AAA - Angus Autumn Advantage - the sale consisted of the herd's entire autumn 2020-born heifer batch, along with two late-spring heifers and a select number of bulls.

Stock throughout proved to be in very strong demand, resulting in all 25 heifers, which had an average age of just over 12 months, selling to average just shy of €3,000.

Consistency throughout meant that only one heifer dropped below the €2,000 mark, but prices rose as high as €5,800.

Tara Tea Rose, which sold for €4,700. \ Alfie Shaw

Speaking after the sale, Malachy said: “I knew I had a good batch of young heifers and the thought of a sale had been in the back of my mind for a number of years now.

"I couldn’t have asked for the sale to go any better and wish each and every buyer the very best of luck with their new purchases.

"I run a very commercial setup here at Tara Angus, so I have no doubt the stock will go on to breed as expected for their new owners.”

Tara Tatyanna, which sold for €3,600. \ Alfie Shaw

Hitting the high note of €5,800 on the day was Tara Lexy W748. This heifer just turned 12 months old and earlier in the week was awarded the title of best autumn-born heifer calf in the Connaught Leinster Aberdeen Angus herd’s competition.

The sale topper was one of the very first daughters offered for sale from the herd’s Scottish imported stock bull, Stouphill Mr Perry U222, with the dam out of former stock sire Luddenmore Earthquake.

This true to type Angus heifer had a number of interested parties both online and ringside before auctioneer Tom Cox eventually dropped his gavel to a northern buyer.

Tara Tina Tuner, which sold for €3,500. Her two ET full sisters sold for €3,600 and €2,500. \ Alfie Shaw

Just behind this at €4,700 was the next lot into the ring, Tara Tea Rose. This heifer was one week off a year old and was another daughter of the aforementioned Mr Perry. A potential show heifer in the making, Tea Rose is out of Tara Nola, who herself is a Luddenmore Kalossal daughter from the Melody line, which has bred very well within the herd. This lot again headed north of the border.

Tara Ladycroft W676, which sold for €3,500. \ Alfie Shaw

The €3,600 price tag was next in line, and was hit on two occasions. First at the money was one of the early lots through the ring, Tara Tatyanna. Born in August 2020, this young heifer was sired by the high-index bull Rawburn Boss Hogg, with the dam a daughter of the herd’s senior stock bull, Luddenmore Earl.

Matching the price was Tara Teardrop. This was one of three ET full sisters in the sale out of the aforementioned Tara Nola, whose natural calf sold for the second top price on the day. The sire behind this end of August 2020-born heifer was popular Canadian sire HF Rebel 53Y. Her ET full sister, Tara Tina Turner, was just behind this at a price of €3,500, while the last of the trio, Tara Tippy, hit the market at €2,500.

Tara Tamsinia, which sold for €3,500. \ Alfie Shaw

Along with Tina Turner, three other heifers also hit the €3,500 mark. The much-admired Tara Ladycroft W676, who was catalogued as lot one, was first at the money. This March 2020-born heifer is by the herd’s former stock bull, Ballyshannon Pat, with the dam’s pedigree featuring HF Rebel and Luddenmore Earthquake. With a dairy beef index of over €100, she was the pick of a breeder in the west.

Matching the price was Tara Tamsina, who was secured by a Cork breeder. This direct daughter of HF Rebel goes back to the Rosa Erica line, which produced the highly successful AI bull Aynho Rossiter Eric.

Tara Taylor Swift, which sold for €3,500. \ Alfie Shaw

Also hitting €3,500 was Tara Taylor Swift. This September 2020-born embryo heifer is a daughter of the previously mentioned Rawburn Boss Hogg and out of a Luddenmore Fionn dam that goes back to Rawburn Transformer. Carrying five stars on the replacement index, her dam has a calving interval of just 368 days after seven calvings and being flushed.

One of the last female lots through the ring on the day, Tara Pamina W754, hit the market at €3,400. This was another lot secured by an online bidder, which was run by Ballyjamesduff mart. Pamina is a daughter of the herd’s stock bull and Connaught Leinster Aberdeen Angus club stock bull of the year, Luddenmore Earl.

Earl was also the sire behind the €3,100 Tara Melody W741. This five-star heifer is out of a Luddenmore Kalossal-bred dam and was another lot that headed north.

Three bulls were offered for sale at the end of the day, with two of these selling to a height of €3,000. The male sale topper was Tara Thunder, an ET full brother to the €3,500 Tara Taylor Swift.