Enniscorthy Mart sees lively calf trade at weekly sale

Enniscorthy Mart saw a bigger entry of calves this week with over 100 on offer at the Wexford mart’s weekly calf sale.

The sale which took place Wednesday (November 24) was made up almost exclusively of suck calves, with Friesian bulls making up almost half of the sale.

Commenting after the sale Enniscorthy Mart manager, Kevin Murphy, stated: “The suck calves in general were an excellent trade, as there was plenty of farmers looking for those good quality calves.”

Friesian bulls

Starting with the Friesian bulls, Kevin stated: “The good quality British Friesian bulls were in huge demand by local farmers with six or seven calves breaking the €200 mark and selling up to €265 for those month-old Friesians.

“The second grade Friesians that are well fed but more Holstein bred dams, ranged from €110 up to €175 with agents and farmers buying those.

“While the softer Friesians and plain calves sold from €35 to €85 with almost all of these bought for export.”

Some sample Friesian prices:

One, four-week-old British Friesian (FR) bull sold for €265;
One, four-week-old FR bull sold for €215;
One, five-week-old FR bull sold for €155;
One, four-week-old FR bull sold for €140;
Two, four-week-old FR bulls sold for €120;
One, three-week-old FR bull sold for €80;
One, two-week-old FR bull sold for €45.

Continental calves

Moving to the continental bull calves, Kevin stated: ‘Continental bull calves ranged from €230 for soft types, up to a top price of €400 for a good quality month-old Limousine cross (LMX) bull.

“Continental heifers were scarce on the day and ranged from €250 up to €375 for a nice blue heifer.

“Farmers and agents are constantly looking for that bit of quality and well able to pay for that premium.”

Some sample Continental prices:

One, four-week-old LMX bull made €400;
One, three-week-old Belgian Blue cross (BBX) heifer made €375;
One, four-week-old BBX bull made €380;
One, three-week-old BBX bull made €295;
One four-week-old BBX heifer made €280;
One, two-week-old LMX bull made €230.

Angus and Hereford

According to Kevin there was a good entry of Angus and Hereford calves at Enniscorthy Mart calf sale.

He stated: “The younger lots ranged from €170 for heifers up to €400 for a month old Angus heifer.

“While the bulls sold from €210 up to €375 for a nice black Hereford bull. Local farmers are the strongest customers for these nice calves as well, with the lesser calves being bought by agents.”

Some sample Hereford and Angus prices: