Balla Livestock Mart in Co. Mayo hosted its sale of bullocks, heifers and dry cows on Saturday (September 19).

Speaking to Agriland after the sale, mart manager Michael Nolan said there was a bigger sale of cattle with average prices up in all categories.

The mart manager noted the number of additional buyers around the ring, saying these buyers were "more eager for cattle".

He said: "A lot of them forward stores over 500kg were up by around €100 and the strong cattle over 700kg were up by €175-€300/head this week.

"They were a great help to the trade," he said.

The mart manager also noted that strong continental bullocks weighing from 660-720kg made in excess of €3,000 "for the first time in weeks".

Lighter bullocks in the 300-400kg weight range averaged €4.47/kg, up €0.05c/kg on last week. Bullocks in the 400-500kg weight range averaged €4.45/kg.

The heavier store bullocks over 500kg averaged €3.95/kg, up €0.29c/kg on average with some types of these up by more, according to Nolan.

Top bullock prices from the most recent sale at Balla Mart include:

A 390kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,110, or €5.41/kg;
A 415kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,500, or €6.02/kg;
A 535kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,920, or €5.46/kg;
A 660kg Charolais bullock sold for €3,030, or €4.59/kg;
A 720kg Limousin bullock sold for €3,240, or €4.50/kg.

Breeding sale

Balla Mart hosted a special breeding sale on Friday (September 18) with 260 heifers in this sale.

In the Saturday sale, there were a further 320 lots on offer.

Commenting on the Saturday heifer trade, Nolan said: "These met a fine trade and all the average prices were up."

He noted a forward-type April-2025-born Limousin heifer weighing 505kg that made €3,500 or €6.93/kg.

Another 495kg Belgian Blue heifer sold by a local farmer made €3,120 or €6.30/kg.

Heifers in the 300-400kg weight range averaged €4.14/kg, up €0.38c/kg on last week.

The heifers weighing 400-500kg averaged €4.06/kg, up €0.15c/kg on the previous week.

The heavier heifers weighing over 500kg averaged €3.94/kg, up €0.12c/kg.

Top heifer prices from the sale:

A 345kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,820, or €5.28/kg;
A 495kg Belgian Blue heifer sold for €3,120, or €6.30/kg;
A 505kg Limousin heifer sold for €3,500, or €6.93/kg.

There were 130 cows in ring three and these were also described as "better than last week".

The mart manager commented: "This 30-day TB test rule change seems to be still catching farmers out where cows over three years that are not in a six-month herd test need to be tested and sold within 30 days, otherwise they are classed as 'CFU only' by the system - that’s if they go over the 30 days."

He said that some farmers think they have three months to sell these cows.

Dry cows weighing over 500kg averaged €3.40/kg this week, up by €0.05c/kg on last week.

There were four cows that made over €3,000 in the sale, with one 830kg Limousin dry cow making €3,380.

A May-2024-born Charolais cow due in December to ‘Loyal’ made €4,100 for a farmer from Castlebar.

Balla Mart is set to host its end of month continental sale on Saturday, September 26.