Granard Mart, Co. Longford, hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Wednesday, July 12, with a range of both fleshed and store-type heifers, bullocks and cows on offer.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, Granard Mart manager Jodie Reilly said there was a noticeable lift in interest for store cattle.
He also added: “There’s more forward-type cattle coming to the rings than there was in the past few weeks since prices have started to drop in the factories.”
Sample cow and stock bull prices:
He said numbers of cattle in the sale remain small in line with the time of year, but that if the heavy rainfall continues, numbers of cattle in sales could pick up much sooner than had been expected.
Sample heifer prices:
The mart manager added: “There’s a strong demand from factory agents for fleshed cattle.”
Reilly believes that the number of these type of cattle being sold at marts will further increase into the third quarter of the year.
“There’s also lots of farmers anxious to get back into store cattle to replace cattle that they have finished,” he said.
Sample bullock prices:
Commenting on the cow trade, Reilly said that while the demand for plainer-type cows has eased, factory agents remain anxious for heavy, fleshed cows, and are “buying them up well”.
The Granard Mart manager expects quality weanlings and store-type cattle to be “as good of a trade as ever” this year as they remain in high demand but are becoming more scarcely available.