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A third-lactation cow in-calf to a Hereford bull topped the dispersal sale of Rglebe Holsteins at 2,300 guineas (gns) in Dungannon Farmers’ Mart on Thursday.
The sale topper, Rglebe Rainman Annie 2, last calved on 28 February, was served again on 3 June and last lactation yielded 6,089 litres at 4.95% butterfat and 3.46% protein.
Taaffe Auctions conducted the sale on behalf of the retiring Alwyn Loane from Enniskillen with 66 spring calved milking cows selling for an average price of 1,460gns.
The second highest price on the day was 2,180gns for Rglebe Oman Pansy. The second lactation cow is currently yielding 32l, having calved on 1 February. She is back in calf to the Hereford bull and due in mid-March.
Older cows
“Trade was very strong; any fresh milk met a good demand and went into good money. Older cows that in past years might not have been sold moved on well on the day,” Brian Taaffe from Taaffe Auctions said.
The good trade for older cows was seen when the fourth-lactation Rglebe Fluffy 2 ASR sold for 1,440gns and sixth lactation Rglebe Lootman Regriff went for 1,200gns.
Popular sires used in the herd were Ardralla Red Rainman and Lissa Long Langs Oman. Brian said that a key feature of the Rglebe herd was the very low somatic cell count. “The latest recording had an average cell count of around 35 (35,000/ml), so farmers could buy with confidence,” he said.
Young stock
Young stock also sold well, with 20 in-calf heifers selling for an average price of 1,240gns. The heifers were autumn 2015-born and were well grown out. The majority of heifers were in-calf to Sandy Valley I Pacific, Boldi V Armour or an Aberdeen Angus bull and were due to calve down from January.
Maiden heifers made an average price of 920gns across eight lots and 28 heifer calves sold for 430gns on average. The pedigree Hereford bull Lisrace Liberty IX is September 2012-born and made 1,950gns at the end of the sale.
View more photos from the sale in the slideshow above.
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