Bandon Mart will be on the search for a new manager shortly, as its current manager, Tom McCarthy has confirmed that he will be moving on from his current post in the Cork-based mart.

AgriLand spoke with Tom this week about his position to which he stated: “I will be moving to AXA Insurance to deal with their agriculture side of things and I will be based as a regional manager with them.”

Tom will begin his new role with AXA Insurance in the coming months, but for the time being he will be remaining on as manager of Bandon Mart.

His career with Cork Marts has been stretched out over the past 15 years. This time has been spent in Bandon, Skibbereen and Macroom Marts.

Monday sale

Bandon Mart, held its regular calf sale on Monday (January 20), in what was described by Tom as a “very strong start to the calf sale season”.

With over 250 calves to choose from, farmers were spoiled for choice it seems – although, many were not afraid to contest it out to buy the right type of calf with quality.

Taking a look at the prices, he stated: “Continental bulls sold up to €545/head on Monday, with heifers selling up to €450/head.

Hereford and Angus bulls sold from €220/head up to €440/head for the stronger type of calf over six-weeks-old. Heifers were selling from €200/head up to €390/head.

“Friesian bulls sold from €65/head up to €215/head for the more quality-type calf.

“Traditionally, January would be a good season for selling calves but this year has been an exceptionally strong start.

“The price for store cattle has got dear in recent times, so I think a lot of farmers are converting to buying calves as a way of bringing up numbers.

“There seems to be more farmers interested in buying calves this year than there was compared to this time last year. It’s good to see that bit of confidence from farmers, Tom said.