Ballybay Mart in Co. Monaghan has appointed Matthew (Mattie) Gilliland to the role of mart manager.

From Lough Egish, in Co. Monaghan, Mattie is a familiar face on the mart scene in the region.

Having worked in various roles at numerous marts – including Ballybay Mart from an early age – and with extensive experience in the industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge to Ballybay.

He also operates a beef enterprise on his home farm focusing on the purchase of suck calves, and rearing them to beef.

Ballybay sales

Ballybay Mart, which is well known for its sales of milk cows, is set to host its fortnightly dairy sale this Wednesday, November 17.

Meanwhile, the weekly sale of sucklers, as well as weanling heifers and bulls, takes place every Friday evening at 6:30pm.

The weekly sale of bullocks, heifers and dry cows takes place every Saturday at 11:00am.

The Co. Monaghan-based mart also hosts a sheep sale every Tuesday evening.

Bidding is available for all sales via the MartEye app.

Strong demand at Saturday’s sale

The mart’s weekly cattle sale drew another big showing of cattle last Saturday with strong demand across all lots of stock.

The cull cow ring witnessed a strong demand for forward-type cows with a top call of €2,000 or €2.51/kg for a 795kg Limousin cow.

Bullocks and heifers were a lively trade on the day also, and prices on the higher end of the the steer ring ranged from €2.20/kg to a top price of €2.50/kg for a 440kg Simmental bullock.

Heifers had a little more bite with a top price of €2.71/kg for a stylish 390kg Limousin heifer.

Finally, the sale also had a good showing of calves with a range of stock on offer from Continentals to Angus and Hereford as well as Friesian bulls.