Ennis and Blessington tops
Beef bullocks made up to a record €730 over €/kg at Blessington Mart yesterday and forward stores sold for up to €520 over with very strong demand. Beef heifers made up to €380 over and stores sold for up to €295 over €/kg. Beef bullocks were improved by €40/head, stores were up €30-€40/head with heifers showing an improvement of €30/head at an outstanding sale.
Blessington Mart yesterday recorded some of the highest prices paid for cattle in 2005.
At Ennis - where yesterday was fat-stock show day - store prices were up €30/head with bullocks making up to €650 over and a top price of €2,000 paid for an 838kg Belgian Blue heifer.
While the tight supply of finished cattle which should ensure the strong beef price holding to mid-summer is fuelling the demand and price for stores planned for finishing by mid-June, prices paid at Blessington exceeded all expectations.
There were over 1,000 cattle at Kilkenny Mart and store heifers improved by up to €10/head. A 658kg Charolais bullock fetched €1,110 and a lot of four Charolais weighing 644kg sold for €1,050.
There was also a bigger sale at Bandon Mart yesterday, where the trade for bullocks was maintained, heifer prices improved and dry cows also traded well.
The heavy store bullocks made €240 to €350 over €/kg and the lighter stores trade at €200 to €310 over with Friesians ranging €160 to €210 over. The best of the continental heifers made €285 over and the general run for Angus and Herefords was €220 to €250 over.
