On Wednesday (June 23) Enniscorthy Mart held it’s weekly calf sale, with 124 calves on offer at the Co. Wexford based mart’s sale.
Many marts are reporting smaller numbers but this is not the case at the Co. Wexford mart.
”The calf numbers are holding strong, with a big entry for the time of the year,” according to the assistant mart manager, Kevin Murphy.
“The prices were a bit stronger this week even though the quality of calves on offer probably wasn’t as strong, with a mix of exporters and local farmers buying on the day.”
Enniscorthy Mart prices
Starting with the continental bull calves, there was big demand from local farmers and exporters.
The continental bull calves on offer were selling from €175 for a Limousin cross (LMX) calf, up to €400 for a good quality Belgian Blue cross (BBX) bull.
Some sample continental bull prices:
- One five-week-old BBX bull sold for €400;
- One six-week-old Charolais cross (CHX) bull sold for €310;
- One six-week-old CHX bull sold for €315;
- One four-week-old BBX bull sold for €305;
- Two three-week-old Simmental cross (SIX) bulls sold for €220 each.
Just like the bulls, the demand for continental heifers was good and prices ranged from €140 for a softer LMX heifer calf up to €360 for a stronger LMX heifer.
Some sample continental heifer prices:
- One six-week-old LMX heifer made €360;
- Two five-week-old LMX heifers made €330 each;
- One eight-week-old BBX heifer made €340;
- One three-week-old SIX heifer made €215;
- Two three-week-old LMX heifers made €140 each.
Friesian bulls
Moving to the Friesian (FR) bulls on offer at Enniscorthy Mart, Kevin stated that: ”There was a good entry of Friesian bull calves on offer considering its getting late in the season.
“They are still in huge demand from exporters as suitable Friesian’s are becoming increasingly scarce.”
Export type Friesians sold from €90 to €145, while stronger calves made from €150 up to €210 for a small number of reared Friesians.
Some sample Friesian prices:
- One nine-week-old FR bull sold for €210;
- One seven-week-old FR bull sold for €180;
- Two five-week-old FR bulls sold for €135 each;
- One five-week-old FR bull sold for €165;
- Two four-week-old FR bulls sold for €105 each;
- One three-week-old FR bulls sold for €100.
Hereford and Angus
A large proportion of the sale was made up of Hereford cross (HEX) and Angus cross (AAX) heifer calves, many of the softer types were purchased for export.
The heifers on offer ranged from €120 up to €330 for top quality suck calves. There was also a good entry of strong reared Hereford heifers on offer and they made from €265 up to €370.
Some sample Hereford and Angus heifer calf prices:
- One AAX heifer made €210;
- One HEX heifer made €230;
- Four AAX heifers made €120 each;
- One AAX heifer made €320;
- One HEX heifer made €270;
- Two AAX heifers made €165 each.
According to Kevin, there wasn’t as many Hereford and Angus bull calves on offer as previous weeks, and they were not as good a quality as the heifers.
The bulls calves that were on offer ranged from €140 up to €310. With most of the better bulls bought by exporters.
Some sample Hereford and Angus bull calf prices:
- One AAX bull sold for €310;
- Two HEX bulls sold for €225 each;
- One AAX bull sold for €165;
- One HEX bull sold for €170;
- Two AAX bulls sold for €205 each.