Cattle Marts: Light steers sell to a top price of €3.20/kg in Raphoe Mart

Forward cattle, suitable for further feeding, met with a better trade in Raphoe Mart this week, according to the Mart Manager Anne Harkin.

However, some cattle were harder to sell due to the adverse weather conditions over the past week, she said.

The Mart Manager said there was a good entry of cattle on offer on Thursday, with steers over 500kg destined for further feeding trading from €2.40-2.70/kg, while lighter steers sold to a top price of €3.20/kg.

Looking at previous week’s prices, the heavy store cattle in Raphoe Mart have improved by 10-20c/kg. Similar type heifers traded from €2.30-2.80/kg, with the lighter lots selling to €3.20/kg.

In the cow ring, the top priced fat cow made €1,980, but cull cows generally traded from €1.70-2.00/kg, with the quality lots selling up to €2.40/kg.

Kilkenny Mart

Like the previous week, the weather and poor grass growth is still having an impact on the cattle trade on Kilkenny Mart.

There was a smaller number of cattle on offer compared to the previous week’s sale, with a lower number of high quality steers on offer, the Mart Auctioneer George Candler said.

He said that plainer steers and heifers were more difficult to sell on Thursday due to the lack of grass and wet weather conditions.

But, despite the trade for plainer cattle being a little easier, Candler said that forward store and beef heifers meet with a livelier trade.

Beef heifers traded from €2.00-2.60/kg or €580-915 over, while the forward store heifers made €2.00-2.60/kg or €520-750 over. The lighter store heifers (400kg) made €2.00-2.90/kg.

Steer prices remained at similar levels to last week. Beef steers traded from €2.00-2.30/kg, forward store steers sold from €2.00-2.60/kg, while the store cattle weighing 400-500kg sold from €1.80-2.90/kg.

There was also a full clearance of the cull cows on offer in Kilkenny Mart on Thursday. Suckler cows traded from €1.40-2.05/kg, while the plainer dairy types made €1.25-1.80/kg.