It was a wet and challenging day for farmers bringing cattle to the marts on Wednesday (March 10) – however with reports of the prices strengthening they were encouraged to brace the harsh conditions to take advantage of an improved trade.

This week AgriLand took a trip down to Kilcullen to see how cattle were trading on Wednesday in the Leinster Mart.

There was close to 120 lots of cattle entered this week, with very few dry cows up for grabs. Of few dry cows that were sold, Friesians sold from €1.20/kg up to €1.44/kg.

Taking a look at the cattle most in demand at the minute, there was good continental-bred store bullocks and heifers on offer – with just the right amount of flesh and not over-done with feeding to have them suitable for grazing grass over the next few months.

Bullocks

There was a nice selection of continental bullocks weighing between 500-600kg that generally sold at €2.22-2.41/kg – with some outlying prices easing back to €2.11/kg. Angus bullocks were peaked at €2.11/kg

Forward store bullocks (over 600kg) were topped at €2.27/kg for continentals. Some Angus bullocks that were closer to the 700kg mark were selling at €2.23/kg back to €2.11/kg.

Heavy Friesian bullocks weighing between 700-800kg sold from €1.61/kg up to €1.86/kg.

The lighter store bullocks weighing in at the 400-500kg bracket were just not as plentiful, continentals sold from €2.55/kg – for quality Charolais and Limousin bullocks – and back to €2.00/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:

  • Hereford: 792kg – €1,420 or €1.79/kg;
  • Friesian: 770kg – €1,440 or €1.87/kg;
  • Belted Galloway: 740kg – €1,350 or €1.82/kg;
  • Friesian: 665kg – €1,240 or €1.86/kg;
  • Charolais: 602kg – €1,370 or €2.27/kg;
  • Charolais: 547kg – €1,270 or €2.32/kg;
  • Angus: 530kg – €1,120 or €2.11/kg;
  • Limousin: 525kg – €1,130 or €2.15kg;
  • Limousin: 514kg – €1,260 or €2.45/kg;
  • Limousin: 455kg – €1,060 or €2.32/kg.

Heifers

Turning to the heifer trade, the majority of heifers in Kilcullen this week weighed between 500-600kg. The continental stores sold generally from €2.08/kg up to €2.32/kg.

The section of lighter weighing heifers (under 500kg) witnessed mostly continentals pass through the ring – with these females selling at €2.18/kg up to €2.40/kg.

There was a small entry of 12 dairy-bred heifers consisting or Friesian, Jersey and Simmental crosses weighing on average at 300kg that sold for €2.88/kg back to €2.21/kg.

Sample heifer prices:

  • Charolais: 590kg – €1,370 or €2.32/kg;
  • Simmental: 573kg – €1,300 or €2.26/kg;
  • Charolais: 540kg – €1,160 or €2.14/kg;
  • Charolais: 505kg – €1,070 or €2.11/kg;
  • Limousin: 500kg – €1,120 or €2.24/kg;
  • Limousin: 465kg – €1,120 or €2.40/kg;
  • Limousin: 455kg – €1,060 or €2.32/kg;
  • Charolais: 420kg – €940 or €2.23/kg.