Mart Report: €80k in one day at Gigginstown Angus heifer sale

Latest mart prices from Skibbereen, Dungarvan, Kanturk, Kilmallock, Bandon, Macroom and Ennis

An in-calf heifer that sold for €6,800 at Saturday's sale at the Gigginstown estate.

The €80k online auction sale of Angus heifers at the Gigginstown estate of Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary on Saturday will take some beating.

A top price of €6,800 was paid for an in-calf red angus heifer “Gigginstown Red Gamer”.

Coming in second was Gigginstown Milsean, she sold for €5,800. I watched the sale of this heifer from the comfort of my armchair here in Kilmichael. She was an absolute beauty. I’d buy her myself if I had the money. But back to the reality.

With a 100% clearance and an average price paid of €4,000, the herd managed by Drimoleague man Joe O’Mahony is flying high.

An in-calf heifer that sold for €5,800 at Saturday's angus sale at the Gigginstown Estate.

Angus bulls from the Gigginstown herd are being sold privately, with Joe telling me “the high demand for well-grown bulls is continuing.”

Moving onto Skibbereen mart where clearly some superb heifers are also making headlines. When you see prices reported like those for a Belgian Blue heifer of 500kg selling for €1,400 or a Limousin heifer 405kg making €1,370 you know quality is appearing and pulses are racing.

Skibbereen
Friday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Lm	steer	825kg	1680
4	Lm	steers	503kg	1160
1	Hr	steer	760kg	1520
1	AA	steer	650kg	1350
1	Lm	heifer	660kg	1440
1	Ch	heifer	550kg	1300
1	Lm	cow	735kg	1490

Dungarvan Mart manager Ger Flynn gave us this report after Monday’s online cattle sale. “Cattle numbers have eased off slightly but the trade remains firm for all types of stores.

“With grass supplies getting tight in this region, some buyers of store cattle have ceased purchasing. An excellent trade for all types of culled cows continues.”

Dungarvan
Monday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	AA	steer	685kg	1530
8	Hr	steers	665kg	1430
8	AA	steers	378kg	840
1	AA	heifer	520kg	1100
2	Lm	heifers	405kg	1010
1	AA	cow	725kg	1230
3	Fr	cows	685kg	1090

Next to Kanturk mart and mart manager, Seamus O’Keeffe. “We had a great dairy sale on Saturday for the representatives of the late Michael Hayes, Lismire.

“Top price of the day was €3,750 paid for 4-year-old top-class Friesian cow. We had a full clearance of 71 cows with an average price of €2,375.

And looking to the more recent sale of cattle on Tuesday, Seamus added, “We had a big sale again on Tuesday with 1,140 cattle, including 535 calves, on offer. Great demand for all stock with a full clearance recorded.”

Kanturk
Tuesday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
4	Fr	steers	773kg	1500
6	AA	steers	395kg	890
6	Hr	steers	415kg	890
4	Ch	heifers	465kg	935
6	Hr	heifers	560kg	1220
1	Fr	cow	560kg	1170
1	Ch	cow	720kg	1300

Kilmallock mart had 1600 cattle and calves up for grabs during the week. Bullocks sold for up to €2.71 per kg. Dry cows (180 on offer) made up to €1,410 a head or €1.89 per kg.

Light heifers hit €2.69 per kg, heavier heifers made up to €2.63 per kg.

Up to €430 was paid in the calf ring (paid for a Friesian heifer calf).

Suckler cows sold for up to €1,340 (paid for a 2-year-old Simmental and her Simmental bull calf).

On Tuesday calved dairy stock made up to €1,940 a head. Breeding heifers hit €1,000 a head.

Kilmallock
Monday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
3	Lm	steers	377kg	860
2	Hr	steers	393kg	820
3	Ch	steers	362kg	740
4	AA	heifers	339kg	860
1	Ch	heifer	330kg	790
1	Fr	cow	475kg	780
1	Hr	cow	555kg	1020

Dry cows in Bandon on Monday sold from €130 to €700 with their kilo. Friesian bullocks sold from €249 to €600 with their weight. Continental bullocks made from €398 to €983 with their weight. Hereford and Aberdeen Angus bullocks sold from €289 to €870 with the kilo. Heifers sold from €227 to €855 with their weight.

Bandon
Monday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Fr	steer	600kg	1200
1	AA	steer	630kg	1500
3	Hr	steers	475kg	980
2	BB	steers	270kg	670
2	Lm	steers	677kg	1660
1	Sim	cow	870kg	1560
1	Fr	cow	675kg	1080

In Macroom on Saturday, while numbers are decreasing, the trade is remaining strong. Dry cows here sold from €145 to €905 over the kilo. Friesian bullocks made from €178 to €675 with the weight. Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks in Macroom sold from €260 to €730 over the kilo.

Continental bullocks made from €315 to €1,075 over the kilo. Heifers made from €200 to €880 with their weight. Weanling bulls sold from €330 to €600 with the kilo.

Macroom
Saturday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Fr	steer	675kg	1350
3	Fr	steers	513kg	980
5	AA	steers	621kg	1350
4	Hr	steers	475kg	1010
1	Lm	steer	705kg	1780
1	AA	cow	690kg	1400
1	Lm	cow	775kg	1680

And finally, Ann Keane of Clare Co-Op marts gave us the following two reports from Ennis mart.

Beginning with last Thursday’s sale of dry cows and heifers, “We had a big sale of cows on Thursday with almost 300 on offer and nearly 200 heifers.”

“Some great cull cows with good flesh on offer and these were well appreciated by buyers. There was a great trade for the beef cow.

“Heifer quality somewhat more variable, with quality lots still attracting very strong prices.

“A number of aged bulls on offer also met with a strong trade and averaged €1.90/kg, with a top call of €2,120 for a Charolais bull of 1,130kgs.”

Looking to Friday’s bullock sale Ann said: “We had just over 300 bullocks on offer with the trade very strong.

“Again quite a number of forward cattle available, with a very strong trade, and quite a few going north of the border again.

“Some quality light stores met a serious trade with up to €3/kg achieved for these, but some lovely lots available.

“The traditional breeds also meet a serious trade.”

Ennis
Thursday/Friday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Ch	steer	855kg	1980
1	Lm	steer	720kg	1870
1	Lm	heifer	635kg	1900
1	Ch	heifer	640kg	1550
1	AA	heifer	655kg	1500
1	Lm	cow	935kg	2190
1	Sim	cow	930kg	2140