Mart beef animals

“We’re confident but need to improve,” and “Confidence has returned and the trade is improved” — similar comments from mart managers this week, first to sum up their counties’ prospects in the All Ireland hurling replay, and secondly to describe the mart trade.

One of those managers was Marion Devane of Tuam mart. She said that as well as their normal sale, they had a special sale of Limousin and Simmental weanlings, which brought numbers up to 500. Marion said that farmers were more active than recently, and that there was definitely more confidence about, and the trade was overall improved.

In relation to the special weanling section, she said shippers were “active but selective”. Asking what she meant exactly, she said that they appeared to be limiting themselves to just the Limousin bull weanlings.