There was a large sale of cattle at Balla Mart on Saturday, September 28, with prices described as “well up on last week”, according to the mart manager Michael Nolan.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, the mart manager commented that there is a “serious demand for 2023-born cattle weighing over the 500kg mark and said that the tops of the 500kg young cattle are making €1,750 and up to €1,800 for the real good ones”.
Bullocks in the 300-400kg weight category averaged €3.16/kg. Store bullocks weighing from 400-500kg averaged €3.14/kg while heavier bullocks weighing 500kg and over averaged 3.04/kg.
Some of the highlight prices in the sale included €1,600 or €4.51/kg for a “smashing” 355kg Angus bullock sold by a farmer from Castlebar.
Another strong Charolais bullock weighing 670kg made €2,240 or €3.34/kg and a heavier Charolais bullock weighing 810kg made €2,550 or €3.15/kg that went to a customer from the north.
There was a good show of heifers in the Saturday sale with a farmer from Logaphuill, Castlebar presenting some particularly impressive heifers with oneof these being a 540kg Belgian Blue-cross that made €2,720 or €5.04/kg and another that made €4.07/kg.
Lighter store heifers in the 300-400kg weight bracket averaged €2.81/kg. Heifers weighing between 400-500kg averaged €2.96/kg while heifers weighing above the 500kg mark averaged €2.93/kg.
A February 2023-born Limousin heifer weighing 610kg sold for €2,870 or €4.70/kg for a farmer from Brickins – Claremorris and another April 2023-born lighter Limousin-cross heifer weighing 460kg sold for €1,780 or €3.87/kg.
There were no bull weanlings in the Saturday sale as they are been sold on Tuesdays.
In there dry cow ring there were 130 head on offer with cows over 500kg averaging €2.36/kg this week.
One highlight price in the cow ring went to a Belgian Blue-cross dry cow weighing 870kg that made €2,500 or €2.87/kg.
There was a special sale of in calf heifers at the sale on behalf of a farmer from Hollymount with some of the top lots in this sale making over the €3,000 mark.
One heifer in the sale was due to a Limousin bull Sliabh Felim Sterling due in February 2024 made €3,120.
Balla Mart will host a special sale of in-calf heifers on Saturday, October 5 and another special breeding heifer sale on Saturday, October 9.