GVM Carrigallen Mart in Co. Leitrim hosted a special sale of 39 in-calf heifers and 11 calved heifers on Saturday, August 31.
The special sale was hosted on behalf of Herbie Griffith and the top price of the sale went to Lot five, a four-star Charolais-cross heifer sold with her Ballyline Tom-sired Limousin heifer calf at foot.
Other notable prices from the sale included €4,500 for an in-calf Belgian Blue-cross heifer due to calve this October to a pedigree Limousin stock bull.
Separately, Carnaross Mart in Co. Meath is set to host a special sale of 60 in-calf heifers this Friday, September 6.
The heifers on offer in the Castle Fane In-Calf Heifer Sale are scanned in calf to Artificial Insemination (AI) bulls including Lomo, Loyal, Prince, Scorpion and Pablo.
Mart trade for store cattle
There were over 1,100 head of cattle on offer at Carnew Mart, Co. Wicklow, on Saturday, August 31, with a full clearance in the sale.
According to Carnew Mart’s Eugene Clune, this week saw “a lot more activity online than ringside due to the fine weather, with many farmers battling it out online, anxious to buy stores”.
“Bull weanlings met a lively trade with exporter demand to the fore with most farmers in fields cutting corn.
“There was a large entry of 100 runners in ring two. They were all well reared, quality stock which sold from €450 to €600 with lesser quality, lesser reared calves sold between €250 and €400.”
In the cow sale at Carnew Mart, a 728kg Limousin cow sold for €2,110 while on the lighter side of the scale, a 408kg Belgian Blue cow sold for €940.
Bullock prices from Carnew Mart:
- 618kg Limousin bullock sold for €2,070 or €3.35/kg;
- 382kg Limousin bullock sold for €1,230 or €3.22/kg;
- 380kg Charlais bullock sold for €1,210 or €3.18/kg;
- 542kg Charolais bullock sold for €1,720 or €3.17/kg;
- 484kg Belgian Blue bullock sold for €1,510 or €3.12/kg.
The heavier weanling bulls on offer at Carnew Mart sold for up to €1,500 for a 490kg Limousin bull with a lighter 304kg Charolais bull making €1,000.
Mart Report: Balla Mart
There was a large show of cattle at Balla Mart, Co. Mayo, on Saturday, August 31, with “wet ground conditions” attributes as one factor bringing out larger numbers of cattle to the sale.
Bullocks in the 300-400kg weight range averaged €2.87/kg at Balla Mar while store bullocks weighing from 400-500kg averaged €3.11/kg and heavier bullocks weighing over 500kg averaged €2.81/kg.
A heavy 675kg Limousin bullock born May 2022 made €2,160.00 or €3.20/kg and a lighter Charolais store weighing 415kg made €1,690.00 or €4.07/kg.
Heifer prices were described as “similar to the previous week” for stores despite the large number of heifers on offer.
Lighter store heifers weighing from 300-400kg averaged €2.83/kg.
Heifers weighing from 400-500kg averaged €2.96/kg while heifers weighing over 500kg averaged €2.92/kg.
Dry cows over 500kg averaged €2.52/kg at Balla Mart this week. A strong Limousin dry cow weighing 920kg made €2,740 or €2.98/kg sold by a farmer from Kincon, Ballina to a factory buyer from the North.
In the springer’s there was about 30 lots and one farmer with his FR foster cow and Char heifer show calf born May 2024 sired by Crossmolina Euro (CSQ) and mother ‘Lanzac’ out of Pearse McNamee’s ‘Rosie’ with champion breeding which made a record price of over €4,000.