Macroom Mart in Co. Cork is set to host its first evening sale tomorrow, Thursday, March 24.
The sale will comprise primarily suckler stock and will see “an exceptional offering of quality cattle on offer” according to Macroom Mart’s manager, Jerh O’Sullivan.
The sale will get underway at 6:30p.m and included in the inaugural evening sale is a herd of 40 autumn-calving Limousin cows with Limousin calves at foot.
Most of these cows are back in-calf again to an artificial insemenation (AI) Limousin bull or the farm’s 5-star Limousin stockbull.
The sale will also feature five Saler/Limousin in-calf heifers carrying to a Limousin bull, and five maiden replacement heifers.
“The stock are primarily U-grade type females and all are genotyped. Most of the cows are 75% Limousin, with Simmental and Saler genetics,” the Macroom Mart manager explained.
“The cows and heifers on offer at the sale are primarily 4- and 5-star animals.”
The seller is Mr. Fergus Smyth, a well-known local veterinary practitioner with Abbeyville Veterinary, Co. Cork, who is selling due to health reasons.
“Many years of breeding has been dedicated to the development of this exceptionally bred and well-managed herd,” the Macroom Mart manager added.
Livestock in the sale will be on display at Macroom Mart from 3:00p.m on Thursday afternoon.
Online bidding and viewing is available to farmers and interested buyers via the MartEye app.
New buyers to Macroom Mart will be required to register with the mart office prior to the sale.
Macroom Mart hosts a weekly sale of dry cows, bullocks, heifers and calves every Saturday.
Below are some of the sample dry cow prices form the most recent weekly sale (Saturday, March 19):
- Limousin dry cow weighing 835kg sold for €2,300 or €2.75/kg;
- Charolais dry cow weighing 810kg sold for €2,070 or €2.55/kg;
- Aberdeen Angus dry cow weighing 655kgs sold for €1,490 or €2.27/kg.
Macroom Mart also plans to host a further two evening suckler sales next month.