On Wednesday, February 2, Enniscorthy Mart held its weekly calf sale, which saw over 350 calves present at the Co. Wexford mart for sale.
After the sale, Agriland spoke with Enniscorthy assistant mart manager Éanna Harrington, to obtain some insight into the trade.
Speaking to Agriland, Éanna said: “We had a considerably bigger calf sale this week, with a lot of quality on offer.
“As numbers begin to rise, buyers also become more plentiful and with that, the demand has increased.”
Enniscorthy Mart
Starting with the Friesian bull calves, the majority of the stronger-type calves were brought by farmers and sold up to a top price of €250 for a month-old Friesian bull, according to Éanna.
The lesser quality Friesian bulls sold from €110 to €180. The softer or export-type Friesian bulls were more plentiful than in previous weeks and were in good demand, mostly among agent buyers. They ranged from €50 to €90.
There was also a nice entry of quality Montbeliarde bull calves that ranged from €220 to €395.
Some sample dairy calf prices:
- One, four-week-old Montbeliarde cross (MOX) bull sold for €395;
- One, four-week-old British Friesian (FR) bull sold for €250;
- One, five-week-old FR bull sold for €180;
- Two, four-week-old FR bulls sold for €120;
- One, three-week-old FR bull sold for €90;
- One, two-week-old FR bull sold for €50.
Continental calves
Moving to the continental calves, and according to Éanna, there were a lot of farmer and agent buyers looking for those good-quality continental calves on the day.
Continental bulls ranged from €255 for lighter calves, up to a top price of €480 for a very good quality four-week-old Limousin cross (LMX) bull.
Continental heifers ranged from €230 for lesser calves up to €475 for an excellent quality Belgian Blue (BBX) heifer.
Some sample continental prices:
- One, four-week-old LMX bull made €480;
- One, four-week-old BBX heifer made €475;
- One, four-week-old LMX bull made €435;
- One, three-week-old BBX bull made €400;
- One, three-week-old Charolais cross (CHX) heifer made €360;
- One, four-week-old Parthenaise cross (PTX) heifer made €335.
The sale also had a good number of Angus and Hereford calves on offer, with the younger lots ranging from €220 for lighter heifers up to €360 for a nice Angus bull.
Some sample Hereford and Angus prices:
- One, four-week-old Angus bull sold for €360;
- One, four-week-old Hereford bull sold for €330;
- One, three-week-old AAX heifer sold for €300;
- One, three-week-old HEX heifer sold for €280;
- One, three-week-old AAX heifer sold for €265;
- One, two-week-old AAX bull sold for €250.
Concluding, Éanna said: “Overall, as calf numbers continue to rise, the trade remains as strong as ever.
“This is helped by the increase in agent, exporter and farmer buyers at our weekly sales.”