Ballyjamesduff Mart recently held the annual herd sale of Gérard and Mairead Curtain and sons, on Saturday (February 27) in Brosna, Co. Kerry.

This is the second time in as many months that the Cavan-based mart was auctioning a quality herd of 70 dairy animals, in Munster.

The cows on offer from the Greenlawn pedigree herd had economic breeding index (EBI) values up to €220. All animals were artificially inseminated (AI) bred, milk recorded, vaccinated and pedigree.

The sale had many outstanding young cows featuring four very good (VG) 88 second calvers, three VG 87 second calvers and in total there are 21 VG second calvers with three scoring VG 89 on mammary.

Many of the cows are milking between 40-50L plus with proteins over 4%.

Three calved dairy shorthorns featured including a second calver at 88 points with almost a max score udder at 89 points, while one of the other cows had recently been reclassed at excellent (EX) 90.

Sires include:
  • Mogul;
  • Punch;
  • Mardi Gras;
  • Twist;
  • Supershot;
  • Fever;
  • Hagley;
  • Raphael.

The sale also included a number of AI bred heifer calves, whose dams featured in the sale.

Also on offer at the sale was a very special red and white bull calf who carries the variant red gene (VRC) (meaning 50% of his offspring will be red and white).

Manager’s comments

After the sale, AgriLand spoke with the mart’s manager, John Tevlin, to gain some insight into this special sale.

Commenting on the sale, John said: ”It was a brisk trade, like we have seen at all our dairy sales so far this year. We had a large number of buyers, which meant no one was able to buy in big numbers.

”Buyers seem to prefer buying stock online and directly from farms, they know the cows have been milked that morning and will be again that evening.

”We had buyers from all over the country, including Cavan; Monaghan; Sligo; Galway; Waterford; Meath; Tipperary; and Northern Ireland.

”The cows’ in milk averaged €2,860, with the in-calf cows averaging €2,740. The top price of the day went to a cow and calf that were sold together, they brought €4,650.”

Sample prices from the sale:
  • Heifer calves made between €570-1,180;
  • VG cows sold for between €3,440-3,620;
  • Shorthorn cows went for between €2,920-3,220;
  • Top price for an in-calf heifer was €2,740;
  • Red and white bull calf sold for €400.

John concluded by saying: ”We have another upcoming farm sale, on the farm of Pat Flynn, Kilworth, Co. Cork. The herd was the number one EBI herd in Ireland for two years running, with herd protein averaging 3.87%. That sale takes place on March 20 and includes 15 pedigree bulls.”