A purebred not registered (PBNR) milking herd dispersal sale of 110 head of cattle took place on Wednesday, January 15 at Carnaross Mart, Kells, Co. Meath.

Taaffe Auctions in conjunction with Carnaross Mart sold the stock for Tom Breheny of Loughrea where the quality herd of cows made significant money on the day.

The dispersal sale included the entire PBNR milking herd of 80 cows and the entire group of 28 springing heifers.

The herd averaged 5,756kg of milk last year with 4.10% fat and 3.66% protein, while achieving a low somatic cell count (SCC) throughout the lactation.

Cows will start calving in late January and are in-calf to easy calving Belgian Blue, Hereford and Aberdeen Angus artificial insemination (AI) bulls. Springing heifers start calving from February 1 and in-calf to Aberdeen Angus.

Cows are sired by top AI dairy bulls that are British Friesian and have a high economic breeding index (EBI), with a number of cows sold having an EBI of above €200.

The cows that were sold on the day had very impressive body condition scores (BCS) and are TB export-tested, and the herd has enjoyed a long TB-free history.

Agriland spoke with auctioneer, Michael Taaffe once the dispersal sale had concluded and he said that "it was a very strong trade for cows considering they haven't calved and considering it is still so early in the year".

"The trade seemed to hold right the way through even with the late calvers and the last few cows were actually fought over," Taaffe added.

The top price on the day was €2,650 for a cow that has just finished her third lactation with an EBI of €157 and produced 5,348kg of milk with 3.65% fat and 3.70% protein last year.

The average price for cows on the day was €1,850 and the 28 springing heifers averaged €1,835 and the buyers came from 10 counties from Northern Ireland down as far as Tipperary.

Some sample prices are as follows:

Lot one is due to calve down for the second time in February and produced 4,639kg of milk with 5.10% fat and 3.73% protein in her first lactation.

Lot five had the highest EBI in the herd and had completed two lactations producing 5,232kg of milk with 4.54% fat and 3.94% protein in her last lactation.

Lot eight just completed her first lactation producing 5,494kg of milk with 4.16% fat and 3.63% protein and has an EBI of €206.

Lot 11 had also just completed her first lactation producing 5,585kg of milk with 4.34% fat and 3.65% protein and has an EBI of €204.

Lot 14 is going onto her third lactation in February and produced 4,439kg of milk with 4.81% fat and 3.75% protein in 2024 and has EBI of €227.

Lot 16 had an EBI of €193 and in her third lactation she produced 6,193kg of milk with a 4.36% fat and 3.75% protein.

Lot 26 produced 5,933kg of milk with 3.9% fat and 3.71% protein in her seventh lactation.

Lot 31 produced 5,808kg of milk with 4.27% fat and 3.58% protein in her second lactation and had an EBI of €175.

Some sample prices of springing heifers are as follows:

Lot 91 had an EBI of €205 with milk traits of 23kg of milk, 11.3kg of fat and 7.86kg of protein.

Lot 93 had an EBI of €242 with milk traits of 157kg of milk, 18.67kg of fat and 16.03kg of protein and her dam produced 6,243kg of milk with 4.12% fat and 3.86% protein.

Lot 100 had an EBI of €223 with milk traits of 29kg of milk, 6.77kg of fat and 5.7kg of protein and her dam produced 5,418kg of milk with 3.74% fat and 3.45% protein.

Speaking about the springing heifers, Taaffe mentioned that "there was very strong trade with them as well which shows at the moment it looks very promising for the dairy trade coming into the spring".