It was a quiet bank holiday weekend for a lot of people, however one thing that did draw attention was the calf trade over recent days.

As more people seemed to be free to preview calves at marts, managers noted that it drew more attention and customer demand to sales held in recent days.

One of the standout prices paid was at Carnaross Mart calf sale held on Monday (April 5), where a two-month-old Belgian Blue heifer calf (pictured above) sold for a nice price tag of €780.

Viewing the prices paid at the Meath-based mart on Monday, the sought-after beef calves were a strong trade overall. Plenty of strong Angus and Hereford calves were fit to pass the €250/head mark.

Looking at the trade across the country, the Friesian bull calf numbers continue to ease back – while the traditional beef breeds are experiencing an increase in the number of lots passing through some calf rings.

In cases, this has boosted the sales for the lighter Friesian bulls, as exporters are now having to focusing more on the lighter traditional beef calves hitting marts.

This week Agriland takes a look at recent calf sales held at Carnew, Waterford Ross and Killmallock Marts.

Calf trade at Carnew Mart

Speaking to Agriland about Saturday’s (April 3) calf sale at Carnew Mart – manager David Quinn stated that some of the prices paid for calves were €10/head better than the prices secured the previous week.

In terms of prices paid, David stated:

“We had less Friesian bulls this week and it left the lighter bulls selling at €50-80/head this week, with the strong bulls making up to €150/head.

“Angus and Hereford heifers were selling from €120/head up to €260/head, while the bulls sold from €300/head back to €150/head.

“From the selection of continental calves; bulls sold up to €445/head, while the heifers were topped at €400/head last week.”

calf trade

Waterford Ross Mart

There was approximately 790 head of calves up for grabs on Saturday (April 3) , with manager Richard Kirwan reporting that the positive levels of custom for calves continued last week.

Speaking about the sale, he stated:

“The lighter Friesian bull calves sold from €30/head up to €80/head, while the stronger bulls sold from €90/head up to €170/head.

“Hereford and Angus bulls sold at €120-370/head – with heifers selling from €100/head up to €340/head.

“The continental bulls peaked at €550/head and sold back to €190/head. Heifers with the same breeding were sold at €120-390/head.”

Kilmallock Mart

Kilmallock Mart hosted the first calf sale of its weekly double on Monday (April 5). Speaking to Agriland after this week’s sale, Denis Kirby from Kilmallock Mart stated:

“Some of the prices paid for Friesian bulls on Monday has seen the trade move from €25-30/head being paid four weeks ago, to €60-80/head being paid for the same type of calf.

“Between farmers and exporters, they were leaving general prices for Angus and Hereford calves to sell from €200/head up to a top of €375/head.

“The continental calf prices started generally at €250 and sold up to €430/head,” Denis concluded.