Enniscorthy Mart held its weekly calf sale on Wednesday, November 29, with 120 calves on offer at this weeks sale.
While many herds are heading into the dry-period, autumn-calving herds having been calving cows for the last few months.
To get some insight into the trade for autumn-born calves, Agriland spoke with the Co. Wexford based mart.
Enniscorthy Mart
The 120 calves on offer at the county mart were met with a strong trade, with buyers especially interested in the stronger type calves on offer.
Calves between the ages of four-to-six weeks made up the majority of calves on offer at the sale this week.
Starting with the Friesian bull calves on offer, which sold from €50 up to €210 for strong calves.
Some sample Friesian prices:
- Two, five-week-old Friesian bulls made €210;
- A two-week-old Friesian bull made €70.
Image: Enniscorthy mart
Moving to the continental calves on offer, which sold from €170 for a Limousin-cross bull calf up to a top-price of €400 for two-month-old Limousin-cross bull.
Sample continental prices:
- A three-week-old Limousin-cross bull sold for €360;
- A eight-week-old Limousin-cross bull sold for €400.
Looking at the Angus and Hereford calves sold anywhere from €165 for lighter calves up to €430 for a six-week old Hereford-cross bull.
Some sample Hereford and Angus prices:
- A six-week-old Hereford-cross bull made €430;
- A five-week-old Hereford-cross bull made €405;
- A six-week-old Hereford-cross heifer made €390;
- A four-week-old Hereford-cross heifer made €335.
sold for €325
A spokesperson for the mart said that overall, it was a very strong trade.
With one farmer selling 60 Hereford-cross claves between four-and-six-weeks-old averaging €300 a head.