The Irish Cooperative Organisation Society (ICOS) has confirmed that a new manager has been appointed at Kingdom Co-op Mart in Tralee, Co. Kerry.

Ernest McGrath officially took up his new role as manager of the mart from today (Monday, March 3).

According to ICOS, Ernest has over 40 years’ experience in the livestock industry and hails from Listowel Co. Kerry.

"He comes to us with a wealth of experience in the cattle industry. We wish to thank all our buyers and sellers for their continued support," Kingdom Co-op Mart added in a post on social media.

Kingdom Co-op Mart is one of the longest established marts in the country having first opened its doors in 1958.

In December, ICOS announced that the former manager of the mart, Philip Healy, had stepped down to pursue other career interests.

In other mart related news, calf prices have started off this year at an impressively high level, in line with the record-high prices currently being seen in the beef trade.

While average cattle prices are continuing to rise on a weekly basis, the average calf price has fallen for the past three weeks.

The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) makes available calf price data for dairy-bred (dairy dam) calves traded in marts. This data is updated on a weekly basis.

Farmers can view the average prices paid for calves by age, sex, and sire breed on a weekly basis and also the overall average prices paid to date this year.

The average price paid for Angus bull calves under 21 days of age last week was €240/head and €283/head for calves from 21-42 days.

The average price paid for Angus heifer calves under 21 days of age last week was €186/head with Angus heifer calves from 21-42 days making €222/head.

For more details on current average calf prices you can check out this Agriland article.