The Irish Aubrac Society’s ‘spring sale’ for Pedigree breeding stock took place at Tullamore Mart last Saturday (May 7).

According to a statement from the society, the sale met what was described as “a solid trade” with over thirty lots of Aubrac breeding stock on sale at the event.

As always, auctioneer Tom Cox carried out his duties with great skill. The top prices paid for Aubrac bulls ranged from €2,500 to €2,900, with the top price paid for a 24-month-old bull, De Butleir Phoenix, who was sired by Balinclea Myles and sold by Francis Butler of Streete, Co. Westmeath.

Heifers cleared €2,000 at the sale, with the highest price of €2,050 paid for a 13-month-old heifer, Coolskeogh Rosalie, who was sired by Cloonmore Niall and sold by John Nolan of Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan.

The sale also featured a number of Aubrac cows with calves at foot and these lots were met with keen interest too.

A cow sired by Finnoe Harry with a heifer calf at-foot sold for €2,500. She was sold by Francis Donohoe of Collinstown, Co. Westmeath.

Commenting on the sale, chairman of the Aubrac Cattle Breed Society, James Donnellan said: “Our spring sale of pedigree Aubrac breeding cattle generated a lot of interest among the pedigree breeder community, and among dairy farmers who are looking to Aubrac to meet their requirements for a reliable, high performing and easy-calving beef cross for their dairy cows.

“This is not surprising as Aubrac has three of the top-six active artificial insemination bulls in the ICBF [Irish Cattle Breeding Federation] Dairy Beef Cross Index, namely Dauphin, Despagnou and Madison.

“As expected, while strong prices were paid, there was also good value to be had for buyers that wanted to try the breed as the foundation of their own pedigree herd, or to introduce Aubrac breed characteristics without risking too much of the family silver.”

All the stock offered for sale at Tullamore Mart had been pre-selected especially for this sale and were inspected by the ICBF.