Cattle numbers were reported to have increased at Ballinrobe Mart on Wednesday last, October 31. A firm trade was reported – especially for the quality lots on offer.
Tom Maguire – the mart’s manager – said: “It has been the same for the last few weeks; the quality cattle are very much in demand and they are a good trade.
“The trade is even a touch better when compared to the same time last year in some cases,” he added.
“We have a lot of farmers buying stock for feeding and we had a lot of forward stores here on Wednesday. Nice store heifers – weighing 460-470kg – were selling in the region of €1,200/head.”
Tom noted that really ‘nice’ forward store heifers were slightly dearer than the bullocks in some cases. He added that good-quality heifers weighing in the region of 340-350kg were making €850/head or €870/head.
Following the trend that is evident across the country, plainer cattle were a more difficult trade.
- Limousin: 595kg – €1,350 or €2.27/kg;
- Charolais: 485kg – €1,230 or €2.54/kg;
- Aberdeen Angus: 480kg – €1,100 or €2.29/kg.
Moving to the bullock trade, again it was the forward store lots that were most in demand.
“We had real strong bullocks weighing up on 770kg and they made up on €1,700/head. However, nice Charolais bullocks – weighing 350-360kg – made €900.
- Limousin: 758kg – €1,725 or €2.28/kg;
- Charolais: 625kg – €1,450 or €2.32/kg;
- Belgian Blue: 485kg – €1,335 or €2.75/kg.
Tom highlighted that the dry cow trade has eased slightly, but noted that there are a lot more coming on stream. He said that good-quality cows were selling in the region of €2.00/kg or slightly easier.
A top price of €1,550 or €1.96/kg was paid for a Charolais cross cow weighing 790kg (pictured below).
Weanling sale
Ballinrobe Mart held a weanling sale on Monday last and a large amount of farmers attended the sale – mainly due to the bank holiday.
“Last Monday was an exceptional day because it was a bank holiday. I never seen as many farmers around the ring,” Tom explained.
“Continental bulls – weighing 340-350kg – were making good money at €1,100/head. The lighter weanling (270-280kg) sold in the region of €850-900/head.”
Tom noted that heifer weanlings were good value. He said: “For some reason, there seems to be a sway away from the heifer weanlings compared to this time last year.
“For example, you could buy a nice heifer weanling weighing 270-280kg at €700/head,” he added.
A top price of €1,100 or €3.15/kg was achieved by a Charolais bull; he weighed 345kg. The top price in the heifer category was achieved by a heifer weighing 275kg. She made €815 or €2.96/kg.