Balla Livestock Mart in Co. Mayo hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Saturday, November 7.

There were 900 cattle on offer in the sale and mart manager Michael Nolan said that the wind-down to Christmas seems to be on with only a few Saturday sales left before the final one on December 12 before reopening on January 9.

The mart manager said that cattle were showing signs of the weather but there was still a good clearance.

He said that a lot of farmers are deciding to "cash-in" their cattle now rather than hold them over the winter "and suffer the costs involved".

Average prices in all the heifer and steer weight ranges dropped below €4/kg but some of the younger store cattle were making from €4.50-4.95/kg.

Bullocks in the 300-400kg weight range averaged €3.61/kg while 400-500kg bullocks averaged €3.82/kg while bullocks over 500kg averaged €3.75/kg.

Some of the top prices from the bullock sale included:

260kg Angus bullock sold for €1,000 or €3.85/kg;
395kg Limousin bullock sold for €1,950 or €4.95/kg;
495kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,260 or 4.57/kg;
580kg Limousin bullock sold for €2,920 or €5.03/kg;
765kg Charolais bullock sold for €3,100 or €4.05/kg.

In the heifer section, the average prices per kg were all below the €4/kg mark also.

Despite this, there were still some impressive prices paid with a 755kg Charolais heifer selling for €3,160 or €4.19/kg - going to a buyer in Northern Ireland for breeding.

Heifers in the 300-400kg weight range averaged €3.64/kg while 400-500kg heifers averaged €3.95/kg.

Heavier heifers weighing over 500kg averaged €3.85/kg.

Some of the top prices from the heifer sale at Balla:

295kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,120 or 3.80/kg;
395kg Limousin heifer sold for €1,900 or 4.81/kg;
480kg Salers heifer sold for €2,600 or €5.42/kg;
595kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,640 or €4.44/kg;
645kg Charolais heifer sold for €2,800 or €4.34/kg;
755kg Charolais heifer sold for €3,160 or €4.19/kg.

There were over 200 cows in the dry cow sale at Balla Mart this week with cull cows over 500kg averaging €3.07/kg.

A June-2023-born pedigree Limousin cow sold for €8,650 in the sale.