There was a range of cattle on offer at Ardee Mart's general weekly cattle sale which took place at the Co. Louth venue on Tuesday (February 14).

Commenting on the trade, Jimmy Shannon from Kieran and McGee Auctioneers, the owners of Ardee Mart, said he has never seen prices so strong for the time of year.

"There's no doubt about it; buyers appear very confident on the trade and seem to be powering ahead to buy cattle," he said.

Sample bullock prices from the sale:

There were over 150 lots in the sale. According to Shannon, numbers of cattle tend to pick up at the venue from March onwards.

There was virtually a full clearance at the sale and Shannon said that sellers appeared to be very happy with the prices being achieved for cattle currently.

Sample cow prices:

"There are a range of buyers active currently," he said.

"There's a lot of farmers buying cattle for a shed finish and some farmers have already started buying cattle for grass."

He added that feedlot buyers also remain highly active for forward-type cattle.

Sample heifer prices:

Commenting on the calf trade, Shannon said: "The prices and demand are strong for good calves but buyers don't want small calves.

"We had Friesian bull calves making €65 here but we also had lots of Friesian bulls making €5."

He said there were Angus bull and heifer calves selling from €220 to €235 for the better ones, and Simmental bull calves made from €300 to €170 depending on size.

Shannon added that the Friesian bull calves are primarily being purchased by exporters while farmers are more active for the beef-sired calves.

Ardee Mart hosts a general cattle sale every Tuesday which gets underway at 12:00p.m and the calf sale takes place afterwards.