Solid sale trends point to welcome uplift in market
This week two different mart managers told me stories that could be summed up as follows.
Mart manager: “Well, Jimmy, what you think of the sale?”
Farmer at office counter: “To tell you the truth Paddy I was putting off buying for the last three weeks on account of the fodder situation. But now the cattle are up a hundred on three weeks ago; so I think I’ll put the bales in the paper!”
Beginning with the sale in Thurles on Monday where Martin Ryan told me that bullocks were back in numbers but up significantly in price. “We were maybe a fifth less in numbers than last week, but prices were up €50, €60 maybe €80 a head, depending on the animal,” he said.
Heifer numbers were, however, “where we expected them to be,” he continued. Martin commented that the quality of heifers they had on offer on Monday was as good as he’d seen in a while.
Averaging the prices he reckoned “€2.20 a kilo would get you a decent animal, but at €2.40 you were into top end stuff,” he said. In relation to bullocks he considered that Friesians were “up a nice bit”.
He cited the example of seven Friesians who weighed 557 kilos and made €975, or €1.75 a kilo, as a good price, only for the next lot, also seven black and whites who weighed 543 kilos, to push on more and make €970, or €1.78 a kilo.
“Farmer demand drove the trade all day, they were taking each other out of cattle regularly,” he said. And this applied to the heavier animal as well, an example being one lot of Charloise of 625 kilos who made €1,500 or €2.40 a kilo. When I asked who ran that lot up, he replied: “Another farmer”.
Moving south and Tuesday’s sale in Kanturk where Michael Scanlon reported that they too had very good quality on offer in a sale that was “a little smaller” Michael said.
Like the farmer in my introduction he reckoned that cattle are now up about €100 on last month. Examples of prices achieved for bullocks included five Limousines of 645 kilos who made €1,390, three Limousines of 525k at 1,205k and two Friesians of 445 kilos who pushed close to €2 a kilo stopping at €865 a piece. The heifer trade saw a fine trade with a number of “exceptional lots” Michael said making tremendous prices.
He picked out a lot of two limousines of 345 kilos who made €1,065 and a single limousine of 450 kilos who made 1280 as being examples of top end prices. “We had a yard of great stores on the day,” he concluded.
Also reporting a strong trade on Tuesday was Sean Leahy of Corrin. “It was a good size sale with a demand for everything,” he said. There was a noticeable improvement in prices for the lighter type animal.
Sean cited the sales of Herefords of 400 kilos making €785 and Aberdeen Angus of 405 kilos making €845 as examples of lighter types who have improved in price over recent times. “It’s a longer road to the finish but men want them,” he said.
A share of those buying and reinvesting were men Sean knew who had only recently killed cattle off of grass and had decided “to get straight back in,” he said. Asking him why if margins were tightening he considered for a minute before replying “I suppose they are happier putting their money into stock as opposed to the bank” he replied.
Heifer numbers “were down but the quality is holding well with butchers heifers in particular a strong trade,” he said. Also less in numbers on the day were the heavy beef type cattle.
Tom McCarthy of Bandon also reported an improved demand for stock when I asked how his sale on Monday had panned out. “It was a good sale with prices holding well, if not improved slightly,” he said.
An interesting aspect of the Bandon trade was the fact numbers were actually a shade stronger than last week as most marts this week have reported an easing off in numbers.
Sean commented, as did a number of mart managers that it’s now becoming obvious that sellers had some time ago begun to feed their the animals with the intention of getting a better return come time of sale.
“We had some fine quality animals which were fed and it showed,” Tom said. With stock looking well and plenty of farmers to buy all grades saw a lift. This “lift” saw feeding cows “improve” while “even the plainer cow was up on the day”, Tom said.
Also improved was the market for four to six-month-old “runner calves”. “They were up in numbers and demand is getting stronger” he said. In relation to dairy stock, Tom informed me that they are expecting a large selection of in-calf heifers for their dairy sale next Monday.
Sean Ryan of Sixmilebridge was very happy with the both the turn out and prices achieved during their special weanling sale on Saturday. “It was a very good trade with some very good quality,” he said.
The same could justifiably be said of their main sale, with Sean noting that they sold 100 more cattle than the same day last year. “Demand was improved with a feeling of more certainty among buyers, bullocks in particular were strong,” Sean said.
Helping numbers on the day was the largest turn out of cull cows Sixmilebridge has seen since it’s reopening a number of years ago with Friesian cows in general running from “a euro a kilo for the plainer types to 150 for the good straight cow. The dairy men are selling anything that isn’t in calf or is up in the years,” Sean said. There better heavier continental types were also improved, pushing close to €2 a kilo in a lot of cases.
Kilmallock saw on Monday saw yet another very large sale with Denis Kirby telling me that “prices were up again”. As in Sixmilebridge cull cows were significant in number with 240 on offer. Trade for them had Denis considering that “They were up €50 to €60 a head on last week. We had a lot more of them going to a euro a kilo and plainer one easier sold” he said.
In relation to the bullock trade, Denis notes that year on year Kilmallock has seen no decline bullock numbers to date. On the day, however, “Friesian bullocks were up €40 to €50 a head on last week,” Denis said.
Continentals were also improved. “But only by €20 to €30, you have to realise they are coming off a far higher base,” he said.
Denis also commented on the fact that in their part of the world Friesian bull weanlings are appearing out in great numbers as had been expected. “Lads must be holding them until the price improves because I think we only had a 30% export last year so they have to there some where. I can see them appearing after Christmas though,” he said.
The question of the number of cattle remaining to be sold either as stores or beef is one that Denis has heard being asked among farmers in recent times. The answer has to be that numbers will decline, but in relation to prices that depends equally on whether buyers are getting filled up and what beef will do in the run up to Christmas in the factories.
I finish this week with last Thursday’s sale in Kilkenny where auctioneer George Chandlier told me that they had a bigger sale than expected.
“We were up a hundred animals on the previous week,” George said. Up also were the numbers of buyers present, with George noting that “We had a lot of men, feeders, looking for forward stores. It looks like a lot of men left it later than normal this year to buy,” he said.
While the trade was very good overall George had to work harder to get away the Holstein/Friesian animal.
“They are remaining difficult,” George said. The better Friesian was a good trade, however, with George citing 485 kilo Friesians making €885. “€400 with the weight is an improved price for those,” he commented. With the continental types continuing to forge ahead he wondered which would leave a better margin. “But then again its horses for courses,” he said.
George then returned to a topic that he has mentioned in the past on several occasions, the need for winter finishers to secure contracts.
“Paying big money for cattle at a time when feed is only going one way is tricky, the farm organisations need to put pressure on to secure good prices at the factories,” he said.
The heifer trade “was steady,” George said, but numbers were “disappointing”. Looking further ahead George wondered where all the extra calves from an expanding dairy sector would go in the future.
“They’ll have to be exported from 2013 on,” he concluded. It’s a fair point in the week that has seen the future of dairy production move centre stage with developments in Glanbia.
