Prices slipping for plainer Holstein-Friesian bullocks
An example of what I mean were the 11 Friesian bullocks of plainer quality that weighted 422 kilos and just scraped into €600 at a southern mart this week.
Yet, half a dozen “better made” Friesians of 435 kilos came into €735 at the same sale.
Yes, you have to see the cattle to judge the value, but it’s food for thought.
However, it’s Galway Races week, unmissable for those with an interest in “the sport of kings”.
Like Sean Ryan, a Galway native but manager of Sixmilebridge mart in Co Clare.
I caught up with him on Tuesday evening as he headed to Ballybritt. “We had a big sale on Saturday last, a lot more than I expected,” he said. Looking at the sheets, I noticed that the bullock ring seemed to have a lot of heavier, factory type stock, as opposed to lighter stores.
“Yes we did, factory cattle went very well, as did the weanlings.”
With the shippers “anxious”, Sean said the only damper was the weather, and that some men were waiting to see how it played out before committing to buying.
Just for the record, he reckons Galway will beat Cork in the hurling, and face Tipperary in the final.
Continuing in the sporting vein, Philip Healy of Tralee said, “Thank God for the GAA, at least farmers have something other than cattle prices and the weather to talk about.”
The weather down his way is “telling on the trade”, he said, with store types “showing the effects”, and “harder sold“. But he reflected, “Forward cattle are holding pretty well”, as he mulled over Monday’s sale. Returning to things GAA, he reckoned, “Donegal are a fine team and will test Kerry” in the football; while “Galway won’t like meeting Cork” in the hurling.
Also considering their options on Monday last were some of the potential buyers down in Bandon.
Mart manager Tom McCarthy said that among the attendance were men who were obviously considering proceedings in the light of the weather, and their own circumstances as potential future buyers or sellers. They were observing the sale and its trends and planning their own future strategies accordingly. The sale itself was “a good size, bigger than last week”, Tom said. Poorer types were under pressure, but there was a very good appetite for cattle, he said; “good stock and factory types performing well”.
Plans are not always adhered to, as we all know, and Enniscorthy on Tuesday was a case in point, with Tom Harrington telling me they had more cattle booked in than showed. “Some men obviously didn’t like the idea of selling on a wet day, and didn’t show,” he said.
Although the crowd ringside was small initially, it filled up quickly, resulting in plenty of willing buyers being present. “We had a lot of forward stores and beef and a lot of customers,” Tom commented. “A good sale for all weights and colours”.
He cited the example of 10 young Friesian bulls which weighed 255 kilos, making €415. “Nice bits of cattle, and not a bad price”, Tom considered. Heavy beef and forward stores ranged between €700 and €1,000 with the weight, and by the time the crowd dispersed, only two animals remained unsold. A good day at the office, Tom? “Not bad”, he replied.
Turning back to Monday and the sale in Thurles, where Martin Ryan reported the 452 cattle present as being “about average size for the time of year”. Prices were better than average however, with Martin telling me that, “Good cattle were very strong”.
The heavy cattle in particular met a stronger trade, as the traditional numbers of northern buyers were swelled by some newer arrivals from that part of the world. While all the bullocks sold well, some of the 350 to 360 kilo bulls were tougher, he said. Like many others, Martin is a keen GAA man, and just as willing to speculate on that area as on the outlook for cattle. He observed that Cork had struggled to beat Waterford and would find Galway a game too far. With “Kilkenny struggling”, he also — like Sean Ryan — predicts a Tipp-Galway final.
It’s a long way from Fermoy to Ballybritt in Galway, but Sean Leahy of Corrin mart said their sale on Tuesday “was like the Galway Races”.
Trade was “a flyer”, he said, helped by the very large crowd which attended.
Was it the weather? I wondered. No, I was told it was “misty and dull”. Regardless, the trade was a “flyer”, as Sean said, with nothing going home unsold, and he felt sellers were overall ” happy”. However, the lighter plainer type Friesians were under pressure, as in many other places. Also easing back price-wise were cull cows. While the top cows were still well there, their less “flashy” sisters were definitely easier. Prices paid ranged from €500 to €1,380 for “flashier ones”.
Kilmallock on Monday had 708 animals present — including calves — with the trade described as “lively”. The better quality and heavier lots continued to sell well, while the lesser plainer ones saw some slippage.
Nenagh on Tuesday had 250 on offer, with Michael Harty commenting that although the sale was smaller, it had a “sharper tone”. Unlike some other places, Michael noted that smaller stock “were easier sold than the last two weeks”. Heifers too moved away easier, he commented. The reason for the upturn was simple enough to divine. “We had a bigger crowd and as a result, we had men for everything including the smaller stock.” Michael said.
With more men to bid, “it was easier to get into a price”, he said. But being able to “get into a price” requires money — and Michael pointed out, quiet rightly and logically, that with beef still at €3.90 to €4 a kilo, “the men selling are coming into some very serious money”.
Returning to Co Cork and the sale in Kanturk where some 350 animals, including calves, went under the hammer on Tuesday. Michael Scanlon reported that they had a strong demand for beef heifers and heavier bullocks, with factory buyers willing to push the boat out. Despite the bigger crowd, lighter cattle were again easier, however.
Michael noticed, as had Sean Ryan of Sixmilebridge in Clare on Saturday, that “lads are sitting back a bit, waiting to see how the trade develops as we head into the autumn”.
He analysed it thus: “Some men selling are now happy to take the prices because they are short of grass, and maybe fodder too. On the other side, some of the men buying are also facing the same problems”.
Nevertheless, he expects a good turn out for their show and sale of weanlings next Tuesday.
As I finish writing this report, it’s just after midnight, and looking at the calendar, I realise it’s now Wednesday, the first of August. The sound I can hear is the rain once again beating off the kitchen window.
I then remember that someone I spoke to today told me that one of the farmers at their sale was heading to the Costa-del-somewhere-sunny.
The individual in question is apparently 65, and has never been outside of the country, but has decided that for once, he’s going to do “something different”.
For the price of one factory bullock, he’s bloody right.
