Plenty of forward bullocks on offer - while cow prices also move up a gear at Ennis Mart

There were plenty of forward-type bullocks on offer last Friday (March 19) at Ennis Mart, according to the mart’s manager, Martin McNamara.

Speaking about the sale of bullocks, Martin said: “We had a lot of cattle weighing from 650kg upwards that were too fleshy for grass, but need at least two-to-three months heavy feeding to finish. Also quite a few of these were 30-month-old and plus.”

There was a shortage of customers in comparison to the previous week, however Martin commented that the quality stores still held a fine trade despite this.

Sample bullock prices:

Charolais: 950kg – €1,960 or €2.06/kg;
Charolais: 825kg – €1,770 or €2.14/kg;
Limousin: 707kg – €1,640 or €2.32/kg;
Angus: 700kg – €1,490 or €2.13/kg;
Hereford: 690kg – €1,480 or €2.14/kg;
Friesian: 658kg – €1,180 or €1.79/kg;
Charolais: 650kg – €1,600 or €2.46/kg;
Belgian Blue: 435kg – €1,330 or €3.06/kg;
Friesian: 317kg – €580 or €1.83/kg;
Angus: 480kg – €990 or €2.06/kg;
Friesian: 460kg – €870 or €1.89/kg.

Ennis Mart also hosted its weekly sale of heifers and dry cows on Thursday (March 18) – with Martin describing the trade as “very positive” all round.

The dry cow prices seemed to have moved up a gear in the Clare mart last week, as Martin highlighted that one dry cow customer had 30 cows standing at an average of €2.04/kg.

He also stated: “There were very good heifers entered on Thursday and a few exceptional prices for a few super heifers. There were some good aged bulls on offer also and again a very strong trade.”

Sample heifer prices: