There was a large showing at Delvin Mart’s weekly cattle sale with over 350 cows, heifers and bullocks on offer.

Speaking to Agriland following the sale, Delvin Mart’s Thomas Potterton explained there was a strong demand from buyers, with “virtually a full clearance” of over 110 lots of cows, over 70 lots of heifers and over 100 lots of bullocks.

Heavy cows over 500kg saw a top price per kg of €2.41/kg for a 705kg Charolais cow, that made €1,700.

The highest overall price on the day went to a 920kg Limousin cow which made €2,030, or €2.20/kg.

LMX cow -920kg – €2,030 (€2.21/kg)

While there was a keen demand from northern buyers at the sale, the top-priced cow on the day was bought by a southern-based buyer.

The average price for cows over 500kg was €1.45/kg or €937/head – up €69 from the average price in December of last year, which was €868/head.

Cows over 400kg had an average price at yesterday’s sale of €565/head, or €1.20/kg.

In December of last year, the average price for cows from 400-500kg was €455 – making this year’s average up €110/head from last year.

Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image of some animals from Delvin Mart; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture. Refer to each caption to see details of each lot, including the hammer price.

Commenting on the overall sale, Potterton outlined that buyers “were keen for all types of cattle, with feedlot and factory buyers eager for forward and finished type cows”.

“Demand at the moment seems to be outstripping supply, however, numbers here are larger at the weekly sales than in December of last year.

“The number of cows at the weekly sale was up on last week’s numbers and there’s a fantastic demand for heavy, fleshed-type cows,” he explained.

Potterton noted that there was very strong online activity at Thursday’s sale, saying the online bidding “is working very well and suits a lot of people”.

“Some farmers now tend to drop their cattle at the mart and go ahead with their days’ work.

“They can watch their cattle being sold on the phone and we ring them and see if they are satisfied with the price. It’s brilliant because it works both ways and farmers now have a lot more flexibility,” he noted.

“Covid-19 or no Covid-19, the online platform is here to stay – definitely,” Potterton outlined.

Concluding, The Delvin Mart boss outlined: “The final sale for this year will take place on Thursday, December 16, at Delvin Mart, with our weekly sale of cows, heifers and bullocks.”