Ballyjamesduff Co-operative Livestock Mart in Co. Cavan hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Tuesday, August 6.
Commenting on the trade, mart manager John Telvin said the trade for quality cattle has “well improved” and attributed this to the improvement in grass growth levels which has also helped the trade for the smaller cattle.
Commenting on the demand from customers in Northern Ireland, he said:
“The north has come alive again. They had been quiet for a while but there’s a lot more activity now. They seem to be putting more emphasis on buying stronger cattle with a cover of flesh on them.”
There were approximately 300 cattle on offer at the weekly sale.
The mart manager said smaller cattle are making “over €3/kg for anything with a bit of colour at all. There was small heifers and small bullocks here on Tuesday that were all crossing the €3/kg mark. We had 420kg cattle making from €1,460-€1,500”.
Sample prices from the heifer sale at Ballyjamesduff Mart:
In the cow sale, the trade was good, with slightly tighter numbers.
The mart manager added: “Any good-quality cows are selling well and are scarce. The numbers of them quality cows that are available seem to have really tightened.”
Some of the cow prices included €2,300 for a 790kg cow and a 930kg cow that sold for €2,080.
Sample prices from the cow sale at Ballyjamesduff:
In the lighter Friesian cows, there was 460kg making €700, 520kg cows making €800 “which is still a good price for this time of the year”, Telvin added.
Sheep sale at Ballyjamesduff
In the Tuesday evening sheep sale, cull ewes sold to a top price of €328/head for a pedigree Suffolk ewe.
Other cull ewe prices included €240 for a 91kg fat ewe while a lighter 60kg ewe sold for €155. A 100kg Suffolk ram sold for €300 in the sale also.
Sample prices in the lamb sale included 44kg selling for €176, another 44kg batch of lambs sold for €147. 40kg lambs sold for selling for €140/head and 36kg lambs sold for €106/head Lighter, 32kg lambs sold for €100/head.
Ballyjamesuff Mart is set to host a special sale of breeding sheep next Tuesday evening, August 13, after the usual sheep sale which kicks off at 5:00p.m.
The mart is also currently hosting a timed auction of pedigree embryos and straws on behalf of Martin Hughes. The lots on offer draw to a close this evening, August 12, at 7:00p.m.
Ballyjamesduff Mart is also set to host the Tateetra and Rathmore Farms heifer sale this year. The sale will take place on-farm on Friday, September 27, and will include approximately 130 heifers.