On Friday (October 15) Carnew Mart held its fortnightly sale of dairy stock, with the in-calf heifers the highlight of the sale.
Eugene Clune, Carnew Mart’s yard manager said after the sale that the quality stock on offer “met a very brisk trade throughout”.
Carnew mart
The arrival of October has seen freshly calved cows return to the sale ring, with Eugene stating that: “Freshly calved stock sold from €1,400 to €1,900.”
The autumn has also seen the return of in-calf heifers and bulling heifers, with farmers looking to move excess stock off farms ahead of housing.
According to Eugene the highlight of the sale was the 20 in-calf heifers brought forward by Eddie Kinsella of Leskinfere, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
His is a top quality herd of artificial insemination (AI) bred cows and heifers for generations, with milk recording data from 2020 showing average yields of over 8,000kg of milk at 4.33% fat and 3.54% protein, with a total of 629kg of milk solids.
The heifers on offer were sired by top AI bulls, such as: Fr4673; Fr4724; Fr2298; and Fr4513.
Sale insights
The 20 heifers on offer from Eddie Kinsella’s herd sold on the day for between €1,480 and €1,800.
Commenting on this portion of the sale, Eugene stated that: “Top price for this portion of the sale went to Lot 18, selling for €1,800.”
Eugene described her as:
“A super looking heifer sired by Fr4513 due in February with a dam record of 7,469kg of milk and 678kg of milk solids.”
“Another notable heifer in this section of the sale was Lot 17, also sired by Fr4513, due in February with a Dam record of 8,640kg of milk and 625kg of milk solids. [She] sold for €1,680,” he added.
Moving to the final section of the sale, which was made up of bulling and in-calf heifers, Eugene stated that: “Bulling heifers with no records sold from €540 for light heifers to €700 for heifers fit to bull in the new year.
“Friesian heifer calves sold from €250 for soft calves, to €450 for stronger calves with records,” he concluded.