Weanling sales are still getting numbers in the northwest, with October traditionally being the real busy month.

Nonetheless, there were over 120 weanling bulls on offer at Friday night's weanling sale in Cootehill.

Despite the current difficulties in the beef trade, there appeared to be lots of confidence around the ring, with plenty of farmer buyers and a number of agent buyers for big feeders.

The highest demand was for a good Charolais or Limousin-cross calf between 300kg and 350kg.

Plenty of farmer buyers made these calves hard to secure on Friday night.

That calf has a lot of options and many farmers are buying a little lighter to castrate.

Heavier calves in the 400kg to 500kg bracket are harder to shift.

These calves would have been traditionally scooped up by specialist bull finishers, but the appetite for these heavier calves has dampened a little.

The general run of good-quality bulls in the 300kg to 350kg bracket was €2.50/kg to €2.80/kg.

Lesser-quality lots were back at €2.40/kg.

Heavier bulls in the 400kg to 500kg bracket were back at €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg.

Heifers

There didn't seem to be as much demand for heifers.

A smaller entry meant there wasn't as much of a choice available.

Good quality again attracted a premium, with a few choice lots hitting €2.40/kg.

Aberdeen Angus reduction sale

A reduction sale of 20 pedigree Angus cows, some with calves at foot, met a poor demand on the night, with the majority going home unsold.

A top call of €1,900 was achieved for a March 2017-born cow with her March 2019-born heifer calf at foot.