Price and sale records were broke at the annual Elite Commercial Haltered Cattle Show and Sale which took place at Ballybofey and Stranorlar Mart, Co. Donegal last weekend.
The show took place on Friday, November 8, with the sale taking place on Saturday, November 9.
With a total of 209 cattle entered in the event, 196 of the cattle were sold resulting in a clearance rate of 94% with 36 cattle exported to Northern Ireland.
Taking the top price in the sale was a heifer belonging to well-known Co. Galway based cattle breeder Derrick Forde.
Lot 120 Corrandulla Shania weighed 320kg and the May 2024 born heifer is understood to be the the first red and white pedigree Belgian Blue to be offered for sale in Ireland. The heifer sold at a price of €19,000.
The heifer was sired by Dovea Genetics bull Red Lions De La Rouge Cense (BB8736) and was purchased by a Co. Antrim-based breeder.
The second-top price of the sale was €18,000 that was paid for a Limousin-cross heifer belonging to Co. Donegal man Michael Lynch.
The 842kg commercial heifer named Baby Guinness took a number of show titles this year and was a Tullamore Show Champion and an All Ireland Breeding Heifer Champion.
The heifer was sired by Mereside Godolphin and her dam was a Belgian Blue cow.
The third-highest price of the sale went to the Overall Champion Lot 215 belonging to John Harkin from Gleneely, Co. Donegal.
This February 2023 born heifer weighed 802kg and her sire was recorded as Ballinloan Jaegerbomb while her dam was also recorded in the sale catalog as a Limousin cow.
Johnnie McCloskey from Carndonagh, Co. Donegal sold a 525kg Limousin-cross heifer for €12,000. This heifer was bred by Claddagh McCabe and was from a Cantona-bred dam.
Michelle McNamee’s 350kg heifer calf sold for €9,700. Shown by Pierce McNamee, the April 2024-born calf has Negrita Du Lac x Fury Action x Epi des Granges in its breeding and her dam bred the highest-priced calf at the 2022 sale in Stranorlar, selling for €10,000 at the time.