With buyers let back around the ring this week, it led to a rise in cattle numbers brought forward for Granard Mart’s weekly cattle sale, held on Wednesday (December 2). Local farmers seemed very happy to be back ringside.

Having buyers present provided a boost in the trade for store bullocks and heifers – with some farmers that had been holding back during Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions coming to the fore this week to purchase cattle.

One farmer summed up the mindset of some customers yesterday when he stated:

I’d probably be a lot warmer watching the sale at home online, but it’s just great to get back around the ring to buy cattle.

In terms of numbers, there were over 160 lots, consisting of bullocks and heifers, sold on Wednesday.

Bullock trade

The store trade remained solid this week with continental-bred bullocks (weighing 400-500kg) trading at an average of €2.25/kg, with heavier Charolais and Limousin stores (over 500kg) selling from €2.17-2.40/kg.

Angus and Hereford stores weighing under 550kg were few and far between in the sale – but of the ones on offer they sold at an average of €2.00/kg and €1.75/kg, respectively.

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.

There were only three forward Angus-bred bullocks on offer on Wednesday. These April-2017 born bullocks weighed in at 828kg and sold at an average of €1,410 or €1.70/kg.

Forward continental bullocks on offer sold from €1.90/kg rising up to €2.33/kg.

Sample store bullock prices:

  • Angus: 540kg – €1,080 or €2.00/kg;
  • Hereford: 500kg – €900 or €1.80/kg;
  • Charolais: 470kg – €1,100 or €2.34/kg;
  • Limousin: 470kg – €1,120 or €2.38/kg;
  • Charolais: 445kg – €1,040 or €2.33/kg;
  • Limousin: 425kg – €1,060 or €2.49/kg. 

Sample forward bullock prices:

  • Charolais: 780kg – €1,550 or €1.99/kg;
  • Charolais: 650kg – €1,260 or €1.93/kg;
  • Charolais: 640kg – €1,420 or €2.21/kg;
  • Hereford: 620kg – €1,040 or €1.68/kg;
  • Limousin: 600kg – €1,330 or €2.22/kg;
  • Charolais: 600kg – €1,400 or €2.33/kg.

Heifer Trade

In the heifer trade, forward beef females (over 600kg) sold from €2.16/kg back to €1.90/kg. Two Angus-bred heifers weighed in at 618kg and sold for €1,280/head or €2.07/kg.

There was a large supply of quality continental store heifers at the sale on Wednesday. Limousin and Charolais heifers, weighing 435-500kg, sold between €2.02/kg and €2.47/kg – with slightly heavier stores (over 500kg) selling at an average of €2.16/kg.

Sample forward heifer prices:

  • Angus: 615kg – €1,200 or €1.95/kg;
  • Angus: 655kg – €1,360 or €2.07/kg;
  • Limousin: 605kg – €1,260 or €2.08/kg;
  • Simmental: 700kg – €1,480 or €2.11/kg;
  • Charolais: 735kg – €1,450 or €1.97/kg.

Sample store heifer prices:

  • Limousin: 540kg – €1,230 or €2.27/kg;
  • Charolais: 540kg – €1,150 or €2.12/kg;
  • Limousin: 470kg – €950 or €2.02/kg;
  • Angus: 465kg – €1,000 or €2.15/kg;
  • Charolais: 430kg – €930 or €2.16/kg;
  • Charolais: 405kg – €1,000 or €2.46/kg.

Dry cow trade

There were 27 dry cows on offer at Wednesday’s sale, with a full clearance achieved.

Continental-bred cows, over 650kg, traded at €1.88/kg back to €1.34/kg. Meanwhile, Friesian-bred cows sold at an average of €1.06/kg.

Sample dry cow prices:

  • Charolais: 785kg – €1,210 or €1.54/kg;
  • Limousin: 735kg – €1,260 or €1.71/kg;
  • Limousin: 775kg – €1,460 or €1.88/kg;
  • Hereford: 625kg – €860 or €1.38/kg;
  • Friesian: 695kg – €830 or €1.19/kg;
  • Friesian: 555kg – €400 or €0.72/kg.
Related Stories:
GRANARD MART