Cattle marts report: Small beef farmer is the fall guy as buyers focus on large animals
I’m an optimist by nature. But recently, nature has made it very hard to be optimistic. And my optimistic nature really took a battering on Sunday last, a day that was cold, windy and very wet.
A day when, not only did the grass not grow, but it regressed back into the ground. Here we are with summer less than three weeks away, and we are still awaiting the arrival of spring.
And in the marts over the past week, this refusal of the weather to pull itself together has triggered a price drop for the small guy.
The small guy with a long road ahead of him. The small guy who will still be around when we are settling into the turkey next Christmas.
I pity the farmer at the moment who, because of one reason or another, is heading to the mart with a bunch of 200kg to 250kg handy Friesian store bullocks, born perhaps in July or August of last year.
He will be very fortunate to see €400 a head for his load. And €400 a head is not enough. Not when the hardest work has been done by the man standing in the seller’s box. But alas, that’s the situation.
With silage getting scarce in yards and fields scarce of grass, the small guy is being left behind as farmer buyers with limited feed fix their gaze on the 300kg+ animal. While the price for other cattle is unchanged, in marts this week the small guy is the fall guy.
We will begin our round up of the marts by starting with Skibbereen where on Friday last Continental bullocks made from €260 to €740 with their weight. Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from €240 to €700 with the kilo. Heifers in Skibbereen made from €245 to €750 with the kilo.
No Breed Sex Weight €
3 Ch steers 605kg 1345
3 Lm steers 540kg 1270
2 Hr steers 580kg 1280
1 AA steer 520kg 1085
1 Ch heifer 470kg 1080
1 AA heifer 550kg 1200
1 Lm heifer 650kg 1400
The very bad weather on Sunday had an effect on the cattle trade in Kilmallock on Monday, Denis Kirby of Kilmallock mart explains.
“The very bad weather of last Sunday kept a lot of cattle at home for Monday’s cattle sale, however prices were still very strong and improved in some cases.”
Bullocks in Kilmallock on Monday sold for up to €2.71 per kg. Weanling bulls hit €2.98 per kg. Kilmallock had 183 dry cows on offer and they made up to €1.83 per kg. Heifers went to a high of €2.82 per kg. Dairy stock hit €1,910 (for a Pedigree calved cow) while sucklers went to a high of €1910 (paid for a 6 year old Limousin and her Limousin heifer calf). Calves hit €630 (paid for an 8 week old Limousin bull).
Tomorrow, Friday, the North Munster All Breed Bull sale takes place in Kilmallock mart with 112 bulls on offer. This sale begins at 12.30pm.
No Breed Sex Weight €
1 Lm steer 370kg 990
2 Hr steers 393kg 925
3 AA steers 363kg 885
7 Fr steers 477kg 945
2 Ch heifers 465kg 965
1 AA heifer 490kg 980
1 Lm cow 440kg 800
Large hailstones battered the roof of Macroom mart on Saturday, with cattle prices inside holding up as good as the roof.
No Breed Sex Weight €
1 Hr steer 605kg 1320
4 AA steers 575kg 1190
5 AA steers 550kg 1150
1 Sim heifer 505kg 1190
2 Ch heifers 430kg 1155
1 Lm cow 720kg 1360
1 AA cow 670kg 1180
“We had a good size sale of cattle here again on Saturday, with a notable increase in heifer numbers. There was plenty of interest at ringside with a good trade for all types of stock,” John O’Mahony mart manager of Macroom mart reported after Saturday’s cattle sale.
And on Saturday, dry cows sold from €120 under to €640 over the kilo. Hereford and Aberdeen Angus bullocks sold from €225 to €740 over the kilo, with continental bullocks selling from €245 to €770 over their weight.
Meanwhile, Corrin mart on Tuesday had 1,400 cattle and calves on offer with mart manager, Sean Leahy, reporting “a good steady trade for bullocks.” In Corrin, store bullocks sold from €200 to €565 over the kilo, with beef bullocks making up to €650 over the kilo.
Sean also reported “a lively trade” for heifers and dry cows. And in Corrin on Tuesday store heifers made from €240 to €400 over the kilo, with butcher types making up to €710 over the kilo.
On Tuesday last dry cows made from €600 up to €1,150 a head.
No Breed Sex Weight €
1 Ch steer 530kg 1285
5 Hr steers 498kg 1130
4 AA steers 590kg 1145
1 Lm heifer 460kg 1170
5 BB heifers 270kg 660
1 Ch heifer 580kg 1245
1 Fr cow 780kg 1150
In Bandon on Monday Friesian bullocks sold from €200 to €500 with their weight.
Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from €400 to €700 with the kilo. Heifers in Bandon made from €350 to €700 with the kilo.
No Breed Sex Weight €
6 AA steers 635kg 1250
3 AA steers 510kg 1060
3 Hr steers 356kg 860
2 Lm steers 345kg 870
3 Fr steers 750kg 1190
1 AA heifer 680kg 1370
5 AA heifers 395kg 825
No Breed Sex Weight €
1 Fr steer 770kg 1430
4 AA steers 360kg 850
5 Hr steers 320kg 810
1 BB heifer 605kg 1130
4 Ch heifers 440kg 940
3 Lm heifers 360kg 1100
1 Ch cow 760kg 1350
From Bandon on Monday we go to Kanturk on Tuesday, where mart manager Seamus O’Keefe gave us a comprehensive report on the action.
“We had 1,100 animals including 690 calves on offer. We had a great calf sale with up to €420 paid for Hereford bull calves. Friesian bulls, British Friesian three weeks old, were making up to €280 a head.
“Aberdeen Angus bullocks, one-year-old were making up to €500 with the weight.
“We had a dairy sale last Saturday with up to €1320 being paid for top class 2nd and 3rd calvers. Saturday April 23rd sees our second annual bull sale and this sale begins at 1pm.
No Breed Sex Weight €
4 Ch steers 621kg 1380
5 Lm steers 435kg 1025
4 AA steers 421kg 955
1 Hr heifer 580kg 1185
2 AA heifers 407kg 1000
1 AA cow 660kg 1145
1 Fr cow 690kg 1000
Shoving out a few more round bales of silage this morning, I had to wonder when is it all going to stop? Our winter this year has gone beyond a joke. It just doesn’t know when to quit. It’s like the visitor who doesn’t know when it’s time to leave.
For every few good days we get like Monday and Tuesday of this week, we get a Sunday.
And Sunday — as I have mentioned earlier — was a day best forgotten.
When a fellow (namely myself) is carrying a bucket of water across a yard and the water is blowing out of the bucket, you know the day is a bad one.
When a fellow like me who wears glasses would gladly welcome a set of wipers, you know it’s a day a bit different to the days they see in places like Barbados.
But we will march on, for like the men of ’66, that is what we do in farming. And so on that note, for our final mart report this week we head over to Dungarvan mart where mart manager, Ger Flynn, gave us the details.
“Despite the inclement weather conditions, prices for all types of stock are holding well,” said Ger Flynn.
