With marts reporting a height of activity of factory agents purchasing cattle online in the past few weeks – the trend is continuing it seems as there is still an edge on agents to get their hands on forward cattle.

AgriLand spoke with Athenry Mart manager, Brian Hogan, to see how cattle were trading at the west of Ireland-based mart on Tuesday (January 26) and Thursday (January 28).

Speaking on trade, Brian stated:

“Overall, it was mostly continental cattle that we had at Tuesday’s sale. The factory fit bullocks sold from €2.14/kg all the way up to €2.38/kg.

“We had some heavy out-of-spec Hereford bullocks that were commanding around €1.97/kg. Forward store bullocks in the 500-600kg bracket sold at €2.25-2.41/kg.

“The heifers weighing at 500-600kg sold from €2.44/kg back to €2.25/kg, looking at the lighter store heifers in the 400-500kg weight bracket, these sold from €2.27/kg up to €2.61/kg.”

Sample bullock prices:

  • Charolais: 890kg – €2,020 or €2.26/kg;
  • Charolais: 850kg – €1,860 or €2.18/kg;
  • Belgian Blue: 735kg – €1,860 or €2.53/kg;
  • Aubrac: 680kg – €1,620 or €2.28/kg;
  • Charolais: 595kg – €1,400 or €2.35/kg;
  • Limousin: 570kg – €1,360 or €2.38/kg;
  • Charolais: 543kg – €1,270 or €2.33/kg;
  • Limousin: 482kg – €1,150 or €2.38/kg;
  • Charolais: 480kg – €1,050 or €2.18/kg;
  • Limousin: 475kg – €1,140 or €2.40/kg;
  • Charolais: 442kg – €1,120 or €2.53/kg.

Sample heifer prices:

  • Belgian Blue: 695kg – €1,950 or €2.80/kg;
  • Charolais: 760kg – €1,710 or €2.25/kg;
  • Charolais: 610kg – €1,490 or €2.44/kg;
  • Limousin: 605kg – €1,440 or €2.38/kg;
  • Limousin: 585kg – €1,390 or €2.31/kg;
  • Charolais: 545kg – €1,360 or  €2.49/kg;
  • Belgian Blue: 465kg – €1,210 or €2.60/kg;
  • Limousin: 475kg – €1,080 or €2.27/kg;
  • Limousin: 470kg – €1,170 or €2.48/kg.

We had 87 cull cows on offer; good forward-type continental cows ranged from €1.85/kg up to €2.18kg – with the exception of one Charolais cow weighing 780kg that sold at €1,770 or €2.27/kg.

“Any good Friesian cow we had, that were well-fleshed, were averaging €1.30/kg.”

Commenting on the high demand for these forward animals in recent times, Brian explained:

Farmers who have those forward and short-keep cattle on hand and ready to sell are lucky to have the option of bringing them to the sales ring.

“It’s another option for them instead of heading straight to the factory if they aren’t getting offered enough money.”

Speaking about the calf sale last Thursday, Brian claimed: “The demand in strong calves was strong Thursday, and any farmer that is planning to sell any spring-born calves in the coming weeks can contact the mart’s office.”