Markets: Quality animals draw attention of buyers as marts enjoy a flying trade in fine weather
And how many bales per acre did Michael get? Well that’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t really need to know. All we need to take from my story on silage making is that the year is moving on and things are hotting up.
And speaking of hotting up, I braved gorse fires and all sorts of smoke and flames to make it back to Kenmare mart last Thursday.
And while firefighters were up the mountains attempting to quell the flames before Killarney’s National Park became engulfed, I was in Kenmare mart gauging the temperature at the cattle sale.
On Thursday, in conjunction with the general cattle sale, Kenmare mart held its Annual Spring Show and Sale for bullocks and heifers.
I met Kenmare mart manager Dan McCarthy and spoke to him about the trade as the mart was in full swing.
“We have a big sale here today and prices are dear,” said Dan. “There are a good few farmers out now in search of stock. When the grass comes out the farmers come out. The weather is really the big factor.”
As always in Kenmare it was all about quality, and quality sold very well.
Kenmare
4 Ch steers 542kg 1370
3 Ch steers 670kg 1470
3 Ch steers 533kg 1395
1 Lm steer 532kg 1130
1 BB heifer 578kg 1350
1 Sim heifer 660kg 1400
2 Ch heifers 514kg 1250
I went to Bandon mart on Monday, heading first to the calf ring in search of a few bargains. Sadly for bargain hunters, last Monday was not our day.
Bandon mart had 1,500 calves on offer on Monday.
As I mentioned last week, the abolition of milk quotas is having no ill effect on the calf trade. If anything, the trade has intensified.
Last Monday’s calf trade in Bandon was almost as hot as the hills of Kenmare.
The trade for Friesian bull calves is simmering away nicely, and Aberdeen Angus calves are also back on the boil having recovered from a recent decline in popularity. To my reckoning the Angus calf was up €60 a head on the previous few weeks prices.
But the star of the show at the moment is most definitely the Hereford. Right now, the Hereford is taking on all comers including continental calves. And the highlight for me came when a month-old Hereford heifer owned by a Crookstown farmer sold in the ring for a staggering €560.
“That price will make the paper,” a nearby farmer said. And how right he was. Having witnessed such spending, I felt I’d seen enough. I quickly skedaddled from the calf ring, sensing it was no place for the bargain hunter.
Elsewhere in Bandon mart on Monday, dry cows sold from €180 to €710 over the kilo.
Continental bullocks in Bandon made from €500 to €1000 with the kilo. Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks ranged in price from €400 to €750 with the kilo. While Friesians sold from €220 to €560 with the kilo. Heifers on Monday sold from €300 to €780 with their weight.
1 Ch steer 730kg 1630
6 AA steers 304kg 805
4 Hr steers 462kg 1190
6 Fr steers 412kg 900
2 Lm heifers 457kg 1090
1 Sim cow 745kg 1400
1 BB cow 690kg 1400
And sticking with the subject of heat and fire, Denis Kirby of Kilmallock mart reported a ‘Red hot’ sale of stock at Monday’s cattle sale.
It was a flying trade in Kilmallock with three-week-old calves hitting €545.
“Again on Monday we had all five rings in operation. We had 2,475 stock on offer with over €3 per kg paid on numerous times for heifers and bullocks,” Denis Kirby said. “Dairy stock are in good demand now quotas are gone.”
And looking at dairy stock in more detail, Kilmallock had a clearance sale of 86 dairy stock on Monday with dairy cows selling for up to €1,800 each, and breeding heifers hitting €900 each.
In suckling, a 10-year-old Limousin in-calf to a Limousin made €1,400. A two-year-old Aberdeen Angus and her Aberdeen Angus bull calf sold for €1,370.
3 Lm steers 390kg 955
4 Hr steers 384kg 880
4 Fr steers 374kg 740
9 Hr steers 515kg 1265
1 Ch steer 665kg 1580
5 Ch heifer 398kg 990
1 BB heifer 535kg 1090
In Skibbereen mart on Friday, dry cows sold from €250 to €1,015 with the kilo. Heifers in Skibbereen made from €330 to €1,055 with their weight.
Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks ranged in price from €450 to €850 with the kilo. Friesian bullocks made from €250 to €550 over the kilo. Continental bullocks made from €550 to €1,100 with their weight.Sucklers in Skibbereen sold from €1,250 to €1,610 a head. Dairy stock here made from €1,050 to €1,560 a head.
1 BB steer 705kg 1830
1 Lm steer 715kg 1770
2 Fr steers 440kg 980
4 Hr steers 232kg 815
2 Lm heifers 358kg 980
1 Au cow 780kg 1790
1 Ch cow 885kg 1870
And next we go to Macroom mart and Saturday’s cattle sale where mart manager John O’Mahony gave us this report: “We had a very big sale of cattle here today with great interest in all stock across the board. Store cattle for grass are in great demand, with a good demand also for quality dairy stock and sucklers. Calves are continuing to sell very well.”
1 Hr steer 580kg 1320
1 Lm steer 620kg 1530
6 Ch steers 490kg 1335
4 Lm heifers 513kg 1275
5 Sim heifers 420kg 1100
1 Lm cow 715kg 1450
1 AA cow 525kg 1200
Ger Flynn, mart manger of Dungarvan cattle mart, gave us this report after Monday’s cattle sale. “We had a very good sale for all forward bullocks and heifers. We had a very good dry cow trade especially for slaughter fit animals. Our calf trade is also going exceptionally well.”
6 AA steers 625kg 1335
6 Lm steers 569kg 1280
4 AA steers 533kg 1180
1 Sim heifer 465kg 1025
1 Fr cow 745kg 1290
1 Fr cow 800kg 1340
1 Fr cow 715kg 1180
At the dairy and calf sale in Kilkenny mart on Monday, freshly calved Friesian heifers peaked at €1,880 with the pick of the calves being a Hereford bull calf selling for €510.
And back to last Thursday’s general cattle sale in Kilkenny, mart manager George Candler had this to add: “On Thursday we had one of the biggest sales of cattle since we moved to our new premises, with most cattle making an excellent trade.
“Some plainer Friesians were a bit more difficult to sell. Grass buyers were certainly out in force.”
And in Kilkenny on Thursday, Friesian cull cows sold from €1.25 to €1.90 per kilo, with continental cull cows ranging in price from €1.50 to €2.19 per kilo.
4 Hr steers 490kg 1315
2 Ch steers 445kg 1370
7 Fr steers 475kg 995
5 Sim steers 355kg 960
7 Ch heifers 275kg 875
1 Lm heifer 360kg 860
2 AA heifers 445kg 1080
“We had a serious trade for calves, with cull cows a roaring trade also,” said Martin Ryan of Thurles mart, after Monday’s sale. “Numbers of stock are still strong.”
10 Fr steers 280kg 620
2 Ch steers 590kg 1380
3 AA steers 471kg 1085
7 Lm steers 521kg 1400
2 Sim heifers 360kg 925
5 Hr heifers 300kg 740
3 BB heifers 333kg 820
Finally to Kanturk, where on Tuesday mart manager Seamus O’Keeffe said: “Today we had the biggest sale in Kanturk with over 20 years. We had 2,240 animals at our sale, including 1,000 calves. With 258 sellers and 172 buyers, there was a rip-roaring trade. We had a 98% clearance, with great demand for all types of cattle with the sale finishing at 7pm. This Saturday we have a dairy sale with up to 80 animals entered, and on Saturday, May 9, we are holding a bull sale. Entries are now being taken in the office.”
3 Ch steers 590kg 1380
6 Hr steers 525kg 1120
4 Fr steers 533kg 1070
2 AA heifers 487kg 1030
1 Lm heifer 540kg 1220
1 Fr cow 820kg 1305
1 Ch cow 745kg 1360
