This week saw a decline in the numbers entered at Ballyjamesduff Mart’s weekly calf sale on Wednesday, March 11.

Following strict Covid-19 health and safety protocols, AgriLand attended this week’s sale to get an insight into how calves were trading at the Cavan-based mart.

Calves

On the day, 139 calves were presented for sale. There was a good mix of both young and reared types on offer.

The bulk of the calves on offer consisted of Angus and Hereford-cross types. There was a good showing of Friesian and Jersey calves also present.

There were only a small number of continental-cross calves on offer; however, these lots were in strong demand.

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.

Starting off with continental-cross calves, these types sold from €270/head up to €540/head. Hereford and Angus-cross calves sold from €120/head up to €295/head.

Moving to the Friesian calves, plainer types sold from €10/head up to €70/head, while stronger Friesians calves sold from €75/head up to €145/head.

Milking stock

Preceding the weekly calf sale was the dairy sale with 15 entries, with a mix of freshly-calved cows and maiden heifers.

The breeds present included Friesians, Jersey crossbreds and some Ayrshires. Prices ranged from €2,440 for a three-week-calved Friesian cow with an economic breeding index (EBI) of €149 to €1,460 for a freshly-calved Jersey crossbred cow.

The maiden heifers consisting of mainly Friesians, made from €690 to a top price of €870.