Winter beef finishers have started to move out to marts to commence buying store cattle for the 2026/2027 season.

Winter beef finishing is a high cost and higher-risk business as opposed to finishing cattle off grass in the autumn, which is a lower-cost system.

The 2025/2026 season saw winter beef finishers selling their factory-fit cattle into a falling beef trade in spring 2026 after a record autumn for store cattle prices in late 2025.

The strong financial returns for cattle finished throughout 2025 somewhat helped to ease financial burden of the tougher beef trade in the first half of 2026.

Many beef finishers were left counting their losses after last winter and will likely err more on the side of caution regarding price per kilo if returning to buy stores this autumn for finishing over the winter months.

Cattle numbers in marts are starting to increase again and are expected to continue to do so into September and October as farmers offload their weanlings and store cattle head of the winter months.

There is some level of uncertainty as to what numbers of cattle will come out to marts this autumn, with some mart managers expecting lower throughputs of cattle this autumn but others expecting weekly autumn sale numbers to remain large.

Anecdotal conversations with farmers and mart managers around the country suggest that cattle are generally weighing lighter than other years.

Also, as a result of the dry spell and grass shortage in several parts of the country, many farmers started feeding forward store cattle concentrates earlier than usual.

It will be interesting to see the impact of the recent prolonged dry spell on autumn cattle sale patterns.

Cattle prices comment

Tuam Co-Operative Livestock Mart in Co. Galway hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Monday (August 31).

Speaking to Agriland after the sale, mart manager Marion Devane said that sale numbers were up on previous weeks, with more heavier cattle on offer and almost a full clearance of the animals on offer.

Sample bullock prices from the most recent sale at Tuam Mart include:

A 310kg Charolais bullock sold for €1,500 or €4.84/kg;
A 485kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,400 or €4.95/kg;
A 460kg Charolais heifer sold for €2,250 or €4.89/kg;
A 480kg Angus bullock sold for €1,800 or €3.75/kg;
Two 843kg Angus bullocks sold for €3,520 or €4.18/kg;
A 780kg Simmental bullock sold for €3,210 or €4.12/kg;
A 593kg Belgian Blue bullock sold for €2,680 or €4.52/kg.

Devane said that winter beef finishers have started buying with both farmers and feedlots active.

She added that winter beef finisher buying activity is expected to ramp up further over the coming weeks.

Sample cull cow prices from the sale include:

A 445kg Limousin cow sold for €1,700 or €3.82/kg;
A 700kg Limousin cow sold for €2,660 or €3.80/kg;
A 725kg Charolais cow sold for €2,500 or €3.45/kg;
A 690kg Simmental cow sold for €2,390 or €3.46/kg;
A 680kg Belgian Blue cow sold for €2,320 or €3.41/kg;
A 700kg Hereford cow sold for €2,120 or €3.03/kg;
A 690kg Wagyu-cross cow sold for €2,120 or €3.07/kg.

The Tuam mart manager said that the buyer sentiment is largely positive.

The mart's immediate catchment area was not too severely hit by the recent dry spell so fodder stocks on farms is generally in a good position.

Sample heifer prices from the sale include:

A 395kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,760 or €4.46/kg;
A 380kg Limousin heifer sold for €1,400 or €3.68/kg;
A 340kg Angus heifer sold for €1,280 or €3.76/kg;
A 455kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,060 or €4.53/kg;
A 468kg Angus heifer sold for €1,700 or €3.63/kg;
A 490kg Hereford heifer sold for €1,700 or €3.47/kg;
A 685kg Charolais heifer sold for €2,900 or €4.23/kg;
A 595kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,560 or €4.30/kg.

Devane said that sale numbers were back at the mart and across the west region earlier this year, but the expectation is that mart sale numbers will improve into the final months of the year.

Tuam Mart is set to host a show and sale of cull cows and heifers on Monday, September 28, with a bullock show and sale to take place the following week on Monday, October 5.