As seen over the past few weeks, the store trade continues to command a strong holding – with farmers still active online to source their store cattle for grass over the coming months.

Speaking to Agriland this week after selling cattle on Wednesday (April 7) in Cootehill Mart, auctioneer Eamon Gaffney stated: “We saw today that the quality bullock continued to be in demand this week.

“Overall, the store cattle were a good trade throughout the sale.

It’s a similar trend seen over the past few weeks I suppose, but the farmers buying for grass seemed to be out in force this week for store cattle that’s for sure.

“You could see the tops of the Hereford bullocks today making up to €2.23/kg, so you would have to say that it was a good trade for farmers selling cattle,” Eamon concluded.

Eamon Gaffney

Also speaking to Agriland this week was  Geoffrey Drury, the mart’s new manager.

Singing a similar tune to Eamon Gaffney, Geoffrey was also quick to point out the demand on Wednesday for the traditional bullock. He stated:

“I thought from sitting and looking at the cattle going through the ring that the Hereford bullock was a strong trade.

“There was definitely a good bit of competition seen from those grass farmers that are trying to get their hands on the traditionally-bred bullock.

We had nice continental heifers going through the ring this week, prices for these quality store heifers were averaging around €2.30-2.35/kg.

“The heavier heifers were topped at €2.44/kg, so overall in you could see that it was a strong trade most classes of stock.”

Commenting about the re-opening of the mart, Geoffrey added:

“We are just getting going really and trying to keep things going well as best as we can. We are trying to keep both the farmer selling and the customers buying happy.

“Look, it’s challenging for every mart at the minute but you can’t beat having a farmer around the ring and we are looking forward to that date anxiously.”