Carnew Mart conducted the dairy sale of Joseph Thompson’s herd from Coolmanagh, Hacketstown, Co. Carlow on Thursday, January 11.
The spring-calving herd consisted of 95 in-calf cows / heifers and 30 bulling heifers.
The herd, which was all bred to artificial insemination genetics, had an average performance of 6,000kg of milk and 540kg of milk solids.
Speaking to Agriland, Eugene Clune from Carnew Mart described the trade on the day as being “lively” and “very positive”.
He noted that there was a lot of farmers present that had been in the mart looking to purchase stock again.
Dairy sale
The first lots into the ring at Carnew Mart were the in-calf heifers, which are due from the end of January to the Friesian stock bull.
The heifers sold from €1,220 to €1,800, with most heifers selling around €1,600.
Following them into the ring, was the early calving cows that were due from the end of January, with a number of cows carrying sexed semen.
These sold in general between €1,650 and €2,000, with a number of cows selling for €2,000 and over. The top price achieved on the day was €2,100.
Top price from the sale was achieved by Lot 29, a second lactation cow with an economic breeding index (EBI) of €234 and sired by Killalough Samir.
In her first lactation, she produced 8,155kg of milk and 627kg of milk solids. She was sold due on February 2 to Barrackhill Reuben.
The second highest price of €2,050 was achieved on two occasions by Lots 21 and 27.
Lot 21 was a sixth lactation cow, with an EBI of €172 and sired by Kildarra Maestro – she sold due on January 24 to Brandy Star.
Lot 27 was a second lactation cow with an EBI of €223 and sired by Ballygowen Denzel – she sold due on February 5 to Ballintosig Mister Man.
Moving into the older and later calving cows, the trade remained strong, these cows where all in calf to a Hereford or Angus, and sold for between €1,450 and €1,900.
The final lots into the ring was the group of bulling heifers, all the lots on offer where artificial insemination bred and weighed between 220kg and 270kg. They sold for between €580 and €720.