Mart reports from Kanturk, Kilmallock, Ennis, Dowra and Balla

Latest sale, weights and prices

Three February '25 born Belgian Blue cross bullocks, averaging 466kg, sold for €1,620 each in Dungarvan Mart. Picture: O'Gorman Photography.

Wed, 14 Oct, 2026 - 08:24

Denis Lehane

The profit we made from cattle in 2025 has been well swallowed up by our dealings in 2026.

It was all systems go at Kanturk Mart on Tuesday, and it's been all systems go all year long.

The store trade for cattle remains solid. As solid as it has been for the past twelve months.

Depressingly solid. Frustratingly solid. Giving buyers no opportunity to strike.

The only strikes this week, alas, were on the streets.

And now our farm payments, due this week, could be delayed because of the strikes. More woe for cattle farmers.

In the marts it's full steam ahead.

Finbarr Taylor of Kanturk mart reported "a flying trade with a dry cow weighing 665kg selling for €2,300.

"We had a strong trade for strong cattle," Finbarr reported.

Four weanling bulls weighing 257kg sold for €1,200 a head at Kanturk mart on Tuesday.

Kanturk
Tuesday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
10	AA	steers	522kg	1970
3	Sim	steers	513kg	1900
5	Hr	steers	384kg	1440
5	Hr	heifers	372kg	1460
9	Sim	heifers	357kg	1380
1	Fr	cow	775kg	2280
1	Fr	cow	690kg	2220

1,300 cattle were sold at Kilmallock Mart this week.

Good money was paid for continental cattle, with a strong demand from farmers and feedlot buyers.

Bullocks made up to €2,820 a head or €4.38 per kg.

Dry cows made up to €2,440 a head or €3.34 per kg.

Heifers sold for up to €2,270 a head or €4.47 per kg.

Runners made up to €925 a head. Young calves sold for up to €595 a head.

On Tuesday, weanling bulls made up to €1,980 a head or €4.78 per kg. Weanling heifers sold for up to €1,430 a head or €5.03 per kg.

Kilmallock
Monday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
2	Ch	steers	490kg	2210
1	Lm	steer	380kg	1570
4	AA	steers	738kg	2650
3	AA	heifers	298kg	1090
4	AA	heifers	277kg	1240
1	AA	cow	425kg	1350
1	Fr	cow	450kg	1100

Ennis Mart on Tuesday had a big sale with 1,100 on offer.

Weanling heifers at the sale two days ago were a similar trade to last week.

Bull weanlings over 300kgs were back 10c/kg.

Bull weanlings under this weight were similar in price to the previous week, with a lot of farmer activity.

There was a large entry of suckling stock as in-calf lots made up to €3,500 per lot

A few great suckler pairs made up to €4,550.

The mart had 20 calves on offer, and these reached up to a phenomenal €990 a head for a month-old Charolais bull calf. No bargains in the calf ring.

There was a huge mix of dairy types and continentals in the runner rings.

Runner heifers were up 7c/kg and runner bulls were a similar trade to last week.

Ennis
Tuesday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Ch	bull	270kg	1850
1	Ch	bull	345kg	2200
3	Ch	bulls	275kg	1750
1	Sim	bull	365kg	2030
1	Lm	heifer	425kg	2110
1	Lm	heifer	280kg	1760
3	Ch	heifers	322kg	1910

Dowra Mart had another very big sale of cattle on Saturday, with over 760 cattle sold and with the trade improved, especially for quality lots.

The mart had a great entry of heavy dry cows, with 10 selling for over €3,000 a head.

A top call (in the dry cow ring) of €3,640 was given for an 890kg Belgian Blue cow.

An overage Charolais bullock weighing 940kg sold for €3,500.

While a top-selling heifer on Saturday, a Charolais weighing 735kg sold for €3,300 for a 735kg Charolais on €4.49 a kilo.

Dowra
Saturday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Ch	steer	635kg	2990
1	Lm	steer	670kg	2940
1	Sim	steer	830kg	3300
1	Ch	heifer	550kg	2600
1	Lm	heifer	540kg	2580
1	Ch	cow	505kg	2200
1	Lm	cow	590kg	2300

Ennis Mart on Friday had a big sale of bullocks with 762 on offer.

Bullocks up to 600kgs were a similar trade to last week, but cattle over this weight were a bit easier and back about 10c/kg.

A 44-month-old Limousin bullock weighing 895kgs made €3,970.

It was noticeable in Ennis mart on Friday that cattle not getting fed are beginning to slip in condition.

Ennis
Friday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
2	Ch	steers	890kg	3550
2	Hr	steers	770kg	2890
4	AA	steers	592kg	2280
3	Hr	steers	653kg	2470
4	Lm	steers	472kg	2400
5	Ch	steers	532kg	2590
1	Lm	steer	665kg	2980

Balla Mart in Mayo had a very busy week with 1,700 cattle sold.

Strong continental bullocks were a good trade, helped by feedlot and northern factory buyers.

Bullocks 300kg to 400kg averaged €4.06/kg.

Bullocks 400kg to 500kg averaged €4.31/kg.

Bullocks over 500kg averaged €4.02/kg.

The mart saw a good demand for breeding-type heifers, with 10 heifers making over €5,000 a head.

The mart had 175 dry cows on offer, with the trade for cows much the same as last week.

Balla
Saturday
No	Breed	Sex	Weight	€
1	Lm	steer	395kg	2060
1	Ch	steer	475kg	2400
1	Ch	steer	745kg	3020
1	Lm	heifer	290kg	1000
1	BB	heifer	490kg	3650
1	BB	heifer	605kg	7600
1	Lm	steer	735kg	8300

Ennis Mart on Thursday had a good entry of cull cows, heifers and aged bulls.

The mart saw more a mix of dairy and continental culls, with the first cow in the ring making €3,900. She was a Charolais cow weighing a mighty 1,100kg.

Cull cows and heifers were back about 10c/kg overall on Thursday.

Flesh was extremely scarce overall, except for a couple of pens of cull cows.

A dozen aged bulls on offer averaged €3.63/kg, with a Limousin bull weighing 1,005kgs hitting €4,210.

An Angus bull weighing 1,040kgs made €3,840 and a Charolais bull weighing 970kgs made €3,480.