Belgian Blue bull sells for €5,700 at Carnaross Mart

As part of their final Monday sale (December 21) for 2020, Carnaross Mart offered a special lot amongst their weekly sale of cattle this week.

A quality 12-month-old Belgian Blue bull, weighing 545kg, was sold for a staggering price tag of €5,700 or €10.45/kg – with the proceeds of the sale being raised for St. John’s Ward in Crumlin Children’s hospital.

It was predicted before the sale that this stylish and quality bull would exceed his market value, however few expected him to raise so much funds for a well-deserved cause. Commenting after the auction, Padraig McElroy, the mart’s manager stated:

It was great to see the bull make such a good price. After the challenging year that everyone has had, it is great to be able to raise the funds for a well-deserved cause.

The mart was very accommodating to any northern purchaser of the bull – with export testing being provided for the animal if required. The purchaser was an undisclosed buyer.

Kildare Chilling kill ‘in jeopardy’ due to UK travel ban

In other beef-related news, Kildare Chilling has warned that its livestock kill scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, December 22) is “in jeopardy due to the UK travel ban”.

“Awaiting developments but time is against us,” the meat company warned.
A number of countries announced bans on movements from the UK due to the new strain of Covid-19 prevalent in the southeast of England, with France closing its border to freight from the UK yesterday.

Earlier today (Monday, December 21), the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Tim Cullinan has said he is very concerned about the impact of border closures on the movement of our agri-food exports to the continent, and on the efficiency of the food supply chain.

“We have normal trade across to the UK. The difficulties relate to the movement of freight which is trying to get across the UK landbridge to the continent,” he said.

This level of disruption could be very damaging for the movement of stock off farms and the efficient functioning of the supply chain.