Castlereas Mart held its weekly sale of cattle on Thursday (September 30) which saw a “strong trade all-round” according to the mart’s manager, Brendan Egan.
After the sale, Agriland spoke with Brendan to get his thoughts on the trade. He said: “We saw a good trade for classes of stock on offer, with 650 cattle sold on the day.
“Starting with those younger calves, in particular, the bull calves were a flying trade and sold from €280/head up to €320/head. Then the runners sold up to €840/head for continental types.
“The heifer trade remains very strong here at Castlerea, with plenty of customers around the ring and online, which resulted in a good clearance.”
Sample heifer prices:
- Limousin heifer weighing 405kg sold for €1,160;
- Charolais heifer weighing 455kg sold for €1,270;
- Limousin heifer weighing 475kg sold for €1,360;
- Charolais heifer weighing 590kg sold for €1,540;
- Hereford heifer weighing 640kg sold for €1,480.
Brendan noted that a lot of farmers are back around the ring looking to build up numbers again.
He said: “A lot of farmers are back around the ring having sold or killed a lot of their stock already, and are looking to build up numbers again.
“The weanling trade was in tip-top form. The weanling bulls peaked at €4.13/kg and the weanling heifers hit a high of €3.89/kg.
“There was a good interest there for the weanlings, as well as the Aberdeen Angus heifers – which we had our annual show and sale of on Thursday.”
Sample weanling bull prices:
- Charolais bull weighing 290kg sold for €1,040;
- Limousin bull weighing 280kg sold for €990;
- Charolais bull weighing 350kg sold for €1,280;
- Limousin bull weighing 445kg sold for €1,170.
Sample weanling heifer prices:
- Limousin heifer weighing 275kg sold for €1,070;
- Simmental heifer weighing 240kg sold for €850;
- Limousin heifer weighing 365kg sold for €1,050;
- Charolais heifer weighing330kg sold for €1,000.
Brendan added that there weren’t that many heavy beef cattle on offer in Castlerea on Thursday, with the majority on offer consisting of forward stores.
He explained: “There weren’t that many heavy beef cattle there on Thursday. A lot of those heavy beef cattle have gone through the system in the last few months.
“It’s rare enough of late to see any heavy 750-800kg beef cattle on offer – a lot of them are gone at this stage.
“We are seeing mainly a lot of forward stores in the 500-600/kg weight range coming through the ring currently.
“Cull cows on Thursday were on par with other weeks. Culls peaked at €2,050.
“While cows with calves at foot traded from €1,080 up to €2,510 and springers made from €1,360 up to €1,500,” Brendan concluded by saying.