Raphoe Mart held its fatstock show and sale of cattle on Friday and according to the Mart Manager Anne Harkin, there was an excellent entry of quality cattle on offer.
Exhibitors travelled from all over Co. Donegal, she said, and the stock on offer sold well as both butcher and factory buyers were well represented around the rings.
A lot of the prizewinning animals on offer sold from €1,800-2,500, while the Champion heifer (700kg) sold for a staggering €2,800 or €4/kg.
The Champion heifer was exhibited by Christian Wilson for Raphoe Co. Donegal.
Likewise non-prize winning heifers sold well, with these mainly making €1,600-2,000, while the fat cows of offer sold from €1,400-1,800 and the prize winner made a top price of €2,320.
Carnew Mart
There was 600 cattle and 120 cows on offer in Carnew Mart on Saturday.
The cattle on offer met a very good selling trade, with stronger demand being evident for beef and forward steers, which sold from €550-920 over.
Meanwhile, continental and Friesian store steers sold from €440-810 and €250-620 over respectively.
There was also a number of beef and store heifers on offer and these lots generally sold from €520-840 over and €280-650 over respectively.
Weanling bulls made €400-700 over, while their counterpart heifers traded from €350-520 over.
Some 120 cows also passed through the sales ring on Saturday morning, with the better quality beef cows trading from €300-660 over, while the store cows on offer sold from €1/kg an up.
There was a good sale of approximately 980 lots of cattle on offer in Balla Mart on Saturday, according to the Mart’s Anthony Murphy.
A record price was achieved for one Charolais steer weighing over one tonne, he said, the steer weighed 1,080kg and sold for €2,150.
More and more buyers were moving toward good quality Charolais steers, he said, and this helped to drive prices up by €20-40/head on sales held a few weeks ago.
The presence of Northern Irish buyers around the ring also helped to drive the steer trade, with steers weighing in the region of 450kg and less selling from €500-810 over or €1.61-2.72/kg.
The was also a large entry of heavy steers weighing over 500kg and these lots sold from €1.46-2.45/kg, while the store heifers on offer made €1.55-2.52/kg.
Looking at forward heifer (500kg+) prices, these lots sold from €1.57-2.72/kg and the dry cows on offer traded from €1.10-2.10/kg.
A Record price in Balla Mart