After a few days of uncertainty around the cattle trade, the sunshine has seen the grass buyers flock back to the ring in droves as store cattle rebound in price.

With factory buyers extremely active over the last few weeks, it was music to their ears to hear of talk around a drop in the market for grass cattle and they did their best to promote the much-talked-about price drop.

Factory agents have been hoovering up anything north of 450kg in recent times for a mid-summer indoor finish.

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Solid trade

Talk of a drop in the trade hasn’t materialised to any great extent, with all types of cattle a real solid trade over the weekend and the first two days of this week.

Carrigallen had a real solid trade on Monday night and like the last couple of weeks it was the heavier cattle that were the highlight of the sale, with factories driving prices for anything finished or close to slaughter.

Heavy heifers were up over €100/head on the corresponding sale in 2021, with a number of slaughter-fit heifers over 650kg hitting close to €2.90/kg.

The general run of these heavy 600kg-plus heifers were making between €2.60/kg and €2.80/kg.

Lighter heifers in the 500kg to 600kg bracket saw a top of €2.88/kg being paid for a 545kg Charolais heifer.

The general run of 500kg to 600kg heifers were making from €2.50/kg to €2.80/kg, with feedlot finishers closely aligned to factories driving the trade.

Lighter grass cattle between 400kg and 500kg, with as high as €2.80/kg being paid for Limousin heifers at 460kg.

It was a similar story in the bullock ring, with heavy bullocks in demand, with a top call of €1,690 for a 620kg Aberdeen Angus bullock.

Bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg category were hitting €2.50/kg to €2.70/kg, while bullocks in the 400kg to 500kg category were hitting from €2.30/kg to €2.50/kg, with a top price of €1,200 paid for a 455kg Limousin bullock.

A special suckler sale saw a top of €2,200 being paid for an April 2014-born pedigree Simmental cow sold running with a pedigree Simmental stock bull.

A number of good Limousin cows with young calves at foot crossed €2,000/outfit, with a really solid demand for anything displaying a hint of quality in either the cow or calf.

Dry cows hit a top of €1,970 for a 765kg Limousin cow. Heavy cows were hitting from €2.40/kg to €2.60/kg, with lighter cows back at €2/kg.

Carrigallen Mart’s Seamus Maguire commented: “Factory agents are competing hard for stock, with a lot of them paying more than what the same cattle would make in the factory.

"Dry cows continue to be an exceptional trade, with good cows up over €200/head on this time last year.”

In pictures

This March 2020-born Charolais heifer weighed 605kg and sold for €1,540 (€2.54/kg).

This April 2015-born Limousin cow sold with her March-born Limousin bull calf at foot for €1,850.

This June 2020-born heifer weighed 640kg and sold for €1,680 (€2.63/kg).

This May 2020-born Limousin heifer weighed 500kg and sold for €1,370 (€2.74/kg).

This May 2020-born Charolais heifer weighed 545kg and sold for €1,500 (€2.75/kg).

This January 2020-born Charolais heifer weighed 565kg and sold for €1,450 (€2.57/kg).