Forward cattle continue to meet a lively trade, with good demand reported for these lots in the sales rings across Ireland.
Tighter cattle supplies have resulted in more competition from buyers and this has lead to prices increasing by €30-40/head in some venues.
This was the case in Tullow Mart on Friday, according to the Mart Manager Eric Driver.
Driver said that beef and forward steers sold to a very demanding trade with prices ranging from €650 over for the Friesian types up to €1,060 over for the continental types.
He also said that beef and forward heifers sold well, making from €720-1,030 over of €2.60/kg.
Along with the good demand for forward cattle, he said that store steers sold to a very lively trade as Friesian steers sold from €2/kg.
He added that the store heifers met with a similar trade, with the majority selling from €580-700 over.
Driver also said that Friesian store cull cows made from €200 over, while the better quality continental types made a top price of €850 over.
Balla Mart
There was a bigger sale of cattle in Balla Mart on Saturday, according to the Mart Manager Michael Murphy.
Murphy said that quality cattle met with a good trade and a lot of the cattle of offer sold for over €3/kg.
Light store steers (450kg) made €600-800 over or €1.39-3.36/kg, while the store heifers which met with a good trade sold from €1.72-3.38/kg.
He said that there was a nice selection of heavy steers on offer and there was great demand for these lots and as a result they traded from €1.73-2.83/kg.
Forward and beef heifers traded from €1.84-2.86/kg.
The Mart Manager added that there were 90 cows on offer on Saturday and these lots traded from €1.85-2.56/kg.
Like Balla, there was a bigger number of cattle on offer in Kilkenny Mart, Cillin Hill on Thursday. According to the Mart Auctioneer George Candler, beef and forward stores met with a lively trade, but plainer and lighter stores were more difficult to sell.
Forward stores (600kg and over) sold from €2.05-2.55/kg or €640-1,010 over, while the lighter forward stores (500-600kg) traded at €1.90-2.55/kg.
Candler added that the lighter steers weighing 400-500kg made €1.75-2.80/kg, while the lots weighing less that 400kg sold from €1.70-2.95/kg.
Candler added that there was a smaller number of heifers on offer and these lots met with a good trade.
Beef heifers made €2.10-2.45/kg, forward store heifers sold from €2.05-2.70/kg, while the lighter store heifers traded from €2.00-2.75/kg.
He added that cull cows also sold well, with the dairy types making €1.05-1.70/kg, while continentals sold at €1.60-2.09/kg.
Kilkenny Mart