Quality paying in weanling trade

AS the numbers of weanlings on offer at the mart sales continue to increase, the trade has settled into a two-tier market, with a wide difference between returns, which are closely related to the quality of the animals on offer.

Buyers for the live export trade are active in the marts, but they are concentrating on the top quality continentals for which they are willing to pay up to €500 over €/kg for choice lots of both bulls and heifers and exceptional lots have exceeded this level.

In contrast, the bulk of the traded has shaped up to be a tad weaker than 2006 with farmers exercising more caution and a reluctance to match 2006 prices for the general run of weanlings.