The Irish Hereford Breed Society (IHBS) hosted one of its spring sales at Nenagh Mart last Saturday, April 10.
Looking at the number of bulls presented for sale on the day, only 19 out of 32 bulls catalogued were presented for auction. With home sales strong across a number of pedigree breeds currently – the remaining 23 bulls were sold from home, prior to the sale.
The average price for Hereford bulls last Saturday was a respectable sum of €2,871/head.
An aid to buyers on the day was Irish Hereford Prime sponsoring €200 towards the value of the five highest priced bulls on the day.
Commenting on the sale average, a representative from the IHBS stated:
“The average achieved is a good help to breeders selling bulls at home, of which sales have gotten slightly earlier this year than usual.”
Top priced Hereford bull – Ballinalick Murty
The Ballinalick herd topped the trade on the day at €3,400 with their offering, Ballinalick Murty.
Exhibited by Willie Duff, this October-2019 born bull was sired by the home-bred Ballinalick Gold and out of a Trillick Hotspur dam.
Murty sold with a calving ease percentage of +2.8% on matings with beef cows, and was snapped up by a dairy farmer from Co. Tipperary.
Ardmulchan Riddick
Ardmulchan Riddick was sold for a sum of €3,000. Riddick, was exhibited by Philip and Catherine Smyth from the Royal county of Meath.
Being sired by Church Preen Galileo, this 20-month-old bull was out of a home-bred dam sired by Westwood Uplifter. He was bought by a repeat customer of the Ardmulchan herd from Co. Limerick.
Portanob Gerry
The August 2019-born Portanob Gerry also sold for the same price tag of €3,000 for J and J Canty from Kildalkey, Co. Meath.
This son of Cill Cormaic Leo was out of a prize-winning dam, Portanob Erica, who won the March-born heifer class at the National Hereford Calf Show in 2015. Gerry was sold with a calving ease of +2.2% on matings with beef cows to a farmer from Co. Galway.
Ballyraggan Upstart 976th
Ballyraggan Upstart 976th also moved to new ownership of a Co. Tipperary farmer for a figure of €2,800.
This bull was born in July 2019 and was rated with a terminal index of €84 and a calving ease figure of +1.2%. Shown by James Thompson from Co. Carlow, Upstart was sired by Ballyraggan Isaac 862nd.
Moyclare Sergio
The 21-month-old Moyclare Sergio, made his way from Co. Offaly-based Moyclare herd to his new home in Co. Roscommon.
Selling for €2,700, this son of Freetown Nadal had an impressive set of indices to match: €83 on the replacement index and €78 on the terminal index. Sired by Freetown Nadal, Sergio’s dam was bred from a Ballinalick bull, Ballinalick Ledger.
Youngest Hereford bulls – Glaslough Vinson and Val
Nigel Heatrick travelled home to Monaghan with an empty trailer after selling two entries, Glaslough Herefords – the two youngest bulls in the sale.
The youngest bull at the sale – Glaslough Vinson – born in November 2019, was sired by Clooncullane Major 343. This bull had sires such as Trillick Hotspur, Ballyaville Ger {Hyf} and Cill Cormaic Playboy found throughout his pedigree. He sold to a local Tipperary dairy farmer for €2,700.
Glaslough Val, also born November 2019 and sired by Ballyaville Ger, was sold for a sum of €2,500 to a farmer from Co. Clare.