The Irish Aubrac Cattle Breed Society hosted its autumn show and sale on Saturday, October 23.
The show and sale featured 42 female and 11 male pedigree-registered Aubrac cattle on the day.
The auctioneer was Tom Cox and the sale got underway at approximately 1:00p.m.
Weanling heifers
Weanling heifers were first into the ring and the first prize winner ‘Shrubbywood Perfection‘, daughter of top AI bull ‘Consensuel‘ “stole the show in this class” according to a sale report from the society.
This weanling heifer fetched a price of €2,900 for its owners, Shane and Joanne Bowers from the Shrubbywood Aubracs Herd, Coole, Co. Westmeath.
Next up was ‘Turloughmore Pixie‘ from the Turloughmore Aubrac Herd belonging to Kevin O’Brien from Co. Galway who left the ring with a price tag of €1,800.
The average price for weanling heifers at the sale was a respectable €1,460.
Prize winners in the weanling heifer category:
- First prize: Lot 9 – Shrubbywood Perfection;
- Second prize: Lot 3 – Kerrigan Pippa;
- Third prize: Lot 11 – Turloughmore Philomena.
Maiden heifers
In the maiden heifer section, the quality was “top notch” according to the society and the champion in this category was ‘Ballintra Paula‘ from the famed Ballintra herd belonging to John Walsh from Co. Donegal. This heifer sold for €2,300.
The reserve champion title went to ‘Ashbrook Pettle‘ from Michael Hanlon’s Ashbrook Aubrac Herd in Dring, Co. Longford.
This heifer made an impressive price of €3,050.
‘Johnstown Olivia 1670‘ from the Johnstown Aubracs herd of Francis Donohue made €2,500 in this category while Ballintra Polly sold for €2,400.
The average price in the maiden heifer category was €1,895.
Prize winners in the weanling heifer category:
- First prize: Lot 15 – Ballintra Paula;
- Second prize: Lot 31 – Ashbrook Pettle;
- Third prize: Lot 16 – Ballintra Paola.
In-calf heifers
Moving on to the in-calf heifer class and ‘Johnstown Niamh 1658‘ took the first-place prize here with the hammer falling at €3,200 for this stylish well-bred heifer from the Johnstown Aubrac Herd of Francis Donohue.
Prize winners in the maiden heifer category:
- First prize: Lot 40 – Johnstown Niamh 1658;
- Second prize: Lot 32 – Driminagh Pam.
In-calf cows
The in-calf cow class saw ‘Ballywire Eliza‘, from the herd of Mary Jennings and John Cunniffe, Co. Roscommon, take first prize and sold for €2,750.
She is a daughter of ‘DPZ’ and was sold with an impressive bull calf at foot.
The second prize winner was ‘Thornhill K 527‘ who belonged to Kevin Ryan from Co. Tipperary and sold for €2,400 with a nice heifer calf at foot.
‘Thornhill K 400‘, also belonging to Kevin Ryan, sold for €2,400 with a smashing ‘Bison’ bull calf at foot.
The average price for in-calf cows was €2,516 at the sale.
Prize winners in the in-calf cow category:
First prize: Lot 39 – Ballywire Eliza;
Second prize: Lot 43 – Thornhill K 527;
Third prize: Lot 41 – Thornhill K 400.
Aubrac bulls
Finally, in the bull class, ‘Ballintra Pepe‘ took home first prize for John Walsh of Ballintra Aubracs, Ballintra, Co. Donegal.
The bull is a son of Delrieu Miami and sold for €2,100.
The second-prize winner was Deerpark Pierce from the Deerpark Aubrac Herd of James and Tomas Lacey from Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary, sold for €2,500.
‘Pullagh Paolo‘, a son of AI bull Turloughmore Magnificent from the Pullagh Aubrac herd of Brian and Christopher Gallagher from Co. Sligo, sold for €2,000.
The average price for bulls at the sale was €2,160.
Prize winners in the bull category:
First prize: Lot 49 – Ballintra Pepe;
Second prize: Lot 47 – Deerpark Pierce;
Third prize: Lot 45 – Cahergal Paddy.
Concluding, the Irish Aubrac Cattle Breed Society congratulated all the prize winners and wished the best of luck to all buyers at the sale.