Calves still in demand at Enniscorthy Mart

Enniscorthy Mart’s weekly calf and cattle sales saw a strong trade for calves, forward beef cattle, and cull cows this week.

The sale had around 50 calves in total, with a mix of reared and younger-type calves on offer.

The cattle sale was larger, with a strong trade for forward beef cattle and cows.

Enniscorthy

The calves met a strong trade at Ennicorthy this week, according to Fionn Sherlock from the mart.

The sale was mostly made up of calves from that were aged from four to 12 weeks.

According to Sherlock, there were a lot of customers present looking for strong reared calves.

The Friesians bull calves sold from €30, up to €240 for the stronger-type calves.

Some sample Friesian prices:

A four-week-old Friesian bull sold for €80;
Two two-week-old Friesian bulls sold for €30.

Continental calves sold from €170 for a Limousin-cross bull calf up to a top price of €390 for a two-month-old Limousin-cross bull calf.

Some sample Continental prices:

An eight-week-old Limousin-cross bull made €390;
A five-week-old Limousin-cross heifer made €270.

Angus and Hereford calves sold anywhere from €165 for lighter calves up to €450 for an eight-week-old Hereford-cross bull.

Some sample Hereford and Angus prices:

An eight-week-old Hereford bull sold for €450;
A six-week-old Hereford heifer sold for €400.

Overall, this week was a smaller sale, with more reared calves present at the mart with export and farmer demand keeping trade very strong for these type of calves

Cattle sale

There was a larger showing of cattle sale at this week’s sale in Enniscorthy and the trade was strong for forward beef cattle and cows.

According to Sherlock, grass buyers are still present ringside and online for lighter stores for summer grazing.

Sherlock said there was a large number of cull cows for the time of year and it’s the good trade that is bringing these extra cows out.

There are some very strong buyers both online and ringside looking for well fleshed cows.

Cull suckler cows ranged from €1,190 for stores, up to a top price of €1,870 for a fleshy 770kg Limousin cow.

Finished Friesians sold from €1,180 up to €1,410 for a cow weighing 730kg, while the store Friesians sold from €760 up to €1,010.

Cull cow sample prices:

A Limousin cow weighing 770kg, sold for €1,870 or €2.42/kg;
A Limousin-cross cow weighing 770kg, sold for €1,780 or €2.31/kg;
A Friesian cow weighing 730kg, sold for €1,410 or €1.93/kg;
A Friesian cow weighing 570kg, sold for €1,040 or €1.82/kg.

Finished cattle were scarce on the day, yet there was a good demand for forward and finished
cattle.

Factory agents and feedlot buyers are all very eager for those forward cattle. Forward store bullocks ranged from €1,400 up to €2,110 for 830kg Hereford bullocks.

Quality suckler-bred forward bullocks ranged from €2.56/kg up to €2.94/kg.

Beef and forward store bullock sample prices:

A Hereford bullock weighing 830kg made €2,110 or €2.54/kg;
A Hereford bullock weighing 760kg made €1,950 or €2.56/kg;
A Limousin-cross bullock weighing 720kg made €2,030 or €2.81/kg.

The lighter store bullocks sold from €760 for plainer lots out of the dairy herd up to €1,465 for a top-quality Limousin weighing 490kg, with quality making almost €3.00/kg.

The plainer bullocks ranged from €2.16/kg up to €2.45/kg.

There were some nice forward store Friesian bullocks on offer at Enniscorthy Mart this week too, and they ranged in price from €1,160 up to €1,410kg for four Friesians weighing 633kg, selling anywhere from €2.20/kg up to €2.37/kg.

Friesians bullocks sample prices:

Four Friesian bullocks weighing 633kg sold for €1,410 or €2.23/kg;
Four Friesian bullock weighing 619kg sold for €1,380 or €2.23/kg;
Four Friesian bullocks weighing 586kg sold for €1,290 or €2.20/kg.

The suckler bred forward store heifers sold from €2.53/kg up to €2.86/kg for quality lots while the lighter suckler-bred heifers range anywhere from €2.45/kg up to €2.97/kg.

Store heifers sample prices: