Day two of the 2022 Winter Fair got underway this morning (Monday, November 28) at the Showgrounds in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Roscommon.

The first day of the event took place yesterday (Sunday, November 27) and featured a show of commercial livestock. The sale part of event got underway at 11:00a.m this morning.

The Carrick on Shannon Winter Fair features a show and sale of commercial cattle and is hosted by the Midland and Western Livestock Improvement Society.

Farmers and livestock enthusiasts from across Ireland, the UK and further afield flocked to the event in their hundreds.

One interesting aspect of the event is the huge number of young people in attendance, an indication of a high level of interest among young male and female farmers in commercial show cattle.

The top price of the sale so far has been €9,100 for a 656kg Limousin-sired heifer belonging to the O’Donovan family from Cappamore, Co. Limerick.

Another interesting sale from the day so far has been a well-known steakhouse on Dawson Street purchasing the All-Ireland Beef Bullock Champion from Strokestown Show at today’s sale.

Owned by Co. Longford man John Kane, the Limousin-cross bullock weighed in at 960kg and sold for €4,000 or €4.17/kg liveweight.

Stay tuned to Agriland for further updates from the event.

Last year’s Winter Fair

In 2021, a Limousin heifer hit what was described as “a record price” at the Winter Fair.

The Limousin heifer, which was sold by Sean and Jack Ramsbottom, Timahoe, Co. Laois, and was sired by Ampertaine Elgin, made a whopping €18,000.

The price secured by the Ramsbottom’s heifer was described by the Irish Limousin Society as a “new commercial record” price for a non-pedigree heifer.

Agriland understands the heifer was bought by a syndicate of three cattle breeders based in Northern Ireland and mainland UK.