Cattle marts report: Calm seas at marts as Brexit comes ashore, but will this picture hold in longer term?
With many mart staff rightly taking this quieter period to have a break and sun themselves on faraway shores, while sipping margaritas, no doubt, cattle trading and indeed Brexit are the last things on many minds.
Back in the marts this week, the news that England is to leave the EU has been greeted with a mixture of dismay and silence.
A farmer I met in Skibbereen on Friday rightly pointed out, “Sure even the politicians themselves don’t know what will happen now.”
The whole situation is really a bit like the mart employee who might at this very moment be merrily floating around in the blue sea in an inflatable ring.
While all might look calm and serene on the surface, nobody quite knows what’s going on underneath.
Having seen the film Jaws once too often, I’m well aware that just when it all seems smooth, the arse can be bitten off from under you.
So while Brexit seems to have had no major impact on the mart trade so far, let’s hang onto our rubber rings and keep our eyes peeled, for I’ve a terrible feeling we might be hearing a few bars of that ominous Jaws cello music before too long.
And in Skibbereen on Friday, dry cows sold from €30 to €530 with the kilo. Friesian bullocks here made from €270 to €430 with their weight.
Continental bullocks in Skibbereen sold from €350 to €760 with the kilo.
Hereford and Angus bullocks made from €300 to €600 with their weight.
Heifers in Skibbereen made from €300 to €750 with the kilo.
No Breed Sex Weight €
4 Ch steers 613kg 1370
3 BB steers 403kg 1060
2 AA steers 382kg 830
3 Hr steers 646kg 1255
1 BB heifer 405kg 1160
1 Ch cow 685kg 1130
1 Lm cow 1000kg 1530
The day after Britain opted to leave the EU, nobody I spoke to Skibbereen noticed any dramatic difference on the price being paid for stock.
“Things are no better or worse than they have been all year,” one seasoned observer told me.
And I spotted earlier this week that a financial analyst working with Rabobank, warned of ‘uncertainty’ in the beef business over the coming months.
But I ask you, when has there ever been anything but uncertainty in our beloved beef business? The beef industry is built on uncertainly. Fortunes, indeed empires, were made in times of uncertainty.
The British have given up on the EU, that’s a fact, but to the best of my knowledge they haven’t given up on eating. And that’s where we come in. That’s what we need to remember. So keep the head.
And if you went to Bandon mart on Monday in the hope that calves might be cheaper on account of Brexit, you were out of luck I’m afraid.
Mart manager Tom McCarthy reported “a good trade for calves.” Bandon had 360 calves with strong Friesian bulls selling for up to €350 a head. Dry cows in Bandon on Monday made from €50 under to €405 with the kilo. Friesian bullocks in Bandon on Monday sold from €200 to €500 with their weight.
While Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from €350 to €650 with the kilo. Heifers in Bandon on Monday made from €285 to €580 with the kilo.
No Breed Sex Weight €
2 AA steers 662kg 1380
3 Hr steers 326kg 750
1 Fr steer 625kg 1130
3 Fr steers 491kg 850
1 Hr heifer 365kg 790
1 Fr cow 775kg 1100
1 AA cow 695kg 1100
And in Kanturk on Tuesday, the trade was actually up on the previous week.
Kanturk mart manager, Seamus O’Keeffe, gave us the following report.
“We had a flying trade with 586 cattle passing through both rings and prices up on last week, despite the negative talk over the weekend.
“Heifers here on Tuesday were making up to €600 with their weight, with bullocks making from €300 to €450 with their weight.
“Our first autumn born weanling show and sale is on July 26th, kindly sponsored by Boherbue Co-Op, entries taken on the day.
“Also on July 26th, there will be a free draw with cash prizes for all the buyers and sellers of calves in 2016. This draw is kindly sponsored by AIB Kanturk. Everyone is welcome.”
No Breed Sex Weight €
2 AA steers 632kg 1295
3 Hr steers 650kg 1250
7 Fr steers 573kg 1000
1 Ch steer 305kg 615
1 Hr heifer 545kg 1110
1 Lm heifer 455kg 1070
1 Fr cow 890kg 1240
On Saturday in Macroom mart, dry cows sold from €50 under to €535 over the kilo. Continental bullocks sold from €265 to €730 over the kilo. Hereford and Aberdeen bullocks sold from €230 to €790 over their weight.
No Breed Sex Weight €
3 Ch steers 580kg 1310
2 Hr steers 495kg 1025
1 AA steer 670kg 1460
3 Lm steers 405kg 1065
1 Lm heifer 465kg 1005
1 Sim cow 745kg 1280
1 AA cow 705kg 1170
In Corrin on Tuesday Mart manager, Sean Leahy, reported a “steadier trade for bullocks.” In Corrin store bullocks sold from €150 to €450 over the kilo. Beef bullocks in Corrin made up to €680 over the kilo.
Sean reported a “good trade for heifers, and in Corrin store heifers made from €260 to €520 over the kilo with butcher types making up to €725 over their weight.
Dry cows here sold from €500 to €1,270 a head.
No Breed Sex Weight €
2 Sim steers 645kg 1325
2 Ch steers 485kg 1075
1 AA steer 545kg 1175
1 Hr heifer 450kg 930
2 BB heifers 550kg 1260
1 Fr cow 770kg 1060
1 Lm cow 730kg 1270
And finally for this week, Denis Kirby of Kilmallock mart was anything but downbeat after Monday’s cattle sale. “Sellers had no need to worry about Brexit here on Monday as prices were totally unaffected, and in some cases better than the previous week.
“Buyers from Northern Ireland were present with our auctioneers saying that the trade had recovered from any price reductions that may have occurred at sales over the weekend.”
Kilmallock on Monday had 840 stock including 280 calves on offer.
Bullocks here sold for up to €2.30 per kg, weanlings hit €2.55 per kg. Heifers went to €2.56 per kg. Dry cows (Kilmallock had 75 on offer) sold to a high of €1.80 per kg.
Buyers from as far away as Carlow were in the dairy ring in Kilmallock with prices reaching €1,230 (paid for a three-year-old calved cow). Sucklers sold for up to €1,480 (paid for a seven-year-old Hereford and her Charolais bull calf).
And as for calves, “crazy” was the word Denis Kirby had overheard being used to describe the trade here. And with €655 being paid for a three month old Limousin bull, it was certainly a lot of money to pay out in these times of ‘uncertainty’ in the beef business.
No Breed Sex Weight €
5 Hr steers 374kg 805
4 AA steers 440kg 945
1 BB steer 645kg 1440
2 AA heifers 470kg 960
2 Hr heifer 463kg 935
2 Sim heifers 400kg 875
1 Fr cow 485kg 710
