Cootehill Mart hosted its weekly sale of dry cows, bullocks and heifers on Wednesday (April 7).
It was the third Wednesday sale held at the Cavan-based mart since its re-opening back on March 19, under the new management of Geoffrey Drury.
It was a steady trade all round, with some improved prices being paid for Hereford and Angus store bullocks under 500kg.
Agriland visited Cootehill Mart on Wednesday where, in terms of numbers this week, there were over 20 dry cows on offer alongside 42 heifers and over 60 bullocks.
Bullocks
Plenty of nice traditional Hereford and Angus store bullocks (weighing 350-500kg) passed through the ring at Cootehill Mart on Wednesday.
They seemed to command quite the attraction on the day as well, with online bidders contesting to peak prices for these steers up to €2.23/kg.
Only a handful of these bullocks were sold under the €2.00/kg marker, which illustrated how in-demand these animals were.
Looking at the continental-bred bullocks, a large proportion of these weighed between 450-580kg. These bullocks ranged from prices of €2.48/kg back to €2.07/kg – with the average prices hovering between €2.20-2.30/kg.
There were very few heavy bullocks over 600kg at this week’s sale – but one good Charolais bullock weighing 600kg did reach a price of €1,450 or €2.41/kg.
Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture. Refer to each caption to see details of each lot, including the hammer price.
Sample bullock prices:
- Limousin: 555kg – €1,230 or €2.21/kg;
- Charolais: 535kg – €1,300 or €2.42/kg;
- Charolais: 520kg – €1,200 or €2.30/kg;
- Angus: 530kg – €1,100 or €2.07/kg;
- Hereford: 430kg – €910 or €2.11/kg.
Heifers
There were fewer numbers of heifers up for grabs this week in comparison to the bullocks, yet there was more of a selection of heavy heifers on offer.
Charolais and Limousin heifers weighing over 580kg, sold from €2.44/kg back to €2.11/kg.
Moving down the scales to the 450-550kg category, the majority of the store heifers on offer had continental breeding. These females sold from €2.14/kg up to €2.39/kg.
The general run of prices paid for these heifers was between €2.22-2.35/kg.
Sample heifer prices:
- Limousin: 580kg – €1,280 or €2.20/kg;
- Charolais: 535kg – €1,280 or €2.39/kg;
- Limousin: 510kg – €1,140 or €2.23/kg;
- Stabiliser: 465kg – €1,070 or €2.30/kg;
- Limousin: 440kg – €1,000 or €2.27/kg.
Dry cows
Turning to the dry cows, these were topped at €1.94/kg for a Charolais female weighing in at 720kg and selling for €1,400.
The majority of the dry cows were Friesian-bred females, which sold from €1.68/kg back to €1.06/kg.
Sample dry cow prices:
- Charolais: 770kg – €1,425 or €1.85/kg;
- Friesian: 695kg – €940 or €1.35/kg;
- Friesian: 565kg – €790 or €1.40/kg;
- Limousin: 535kg – €810 or €1.51/kg;
- Friesian: 515kg – €660 or €1.28/kg.