Mart prices: store cattle dearer in Roscrea this week

Friday’s general sale in Roscrea Mart, Co Tipperary, attracted an entry of over 650 cattle. According to mart manager Michael Harty, this was a strong number for the time of year, but, more importantly, it was met with strong demand.

“From what I am seeing, cattle have certainly got dearer in the last week. There’s a school of thought that some people predicted cattle would be cheap after 31 October, but that didn’t materialise and they are all out buying now.”

He said trade has been improving across the three Central Auctions marts – Roscrea, Nenagh and Birr – over the last week.

“Good white-head bullocks just over 450kg were making close to €900. Last week, they would have been struggling into €800,” Michael said.

A clearance of over 90% was achieved.

Store bullocks

Lighter stores from 350kg to 400kg averaged €1.77/kg. By breed, Friesians ran from €1.20/kg up to €1.40/kg, while dairy-beef breeds went from €1.75/kg up to €1.95/kg. A handful of continentals here averaged about €2.10/kg, topping at €2.22/kg.

From 400kg to 500kg, bullocks averaged €1.83/kg. Friesians put a floor under the trade at €1.15/kg, with better lots making up to €1.35/kg.

A very large entry of dairy-beef breeds – mainly Hereford and Angus - started at €1.55/kg, but better-fleshed or cattle with better grading potential rose to €1.95/kg.

Continentals here started at €2/kg, with a handful of top-class continental cattle making €2.25/kg.

Forward 500kg to 600kg stores were at €1.82/kg on average. An entry of Shorthorn cattle put a base under the pricing, with around 15 cattle ranging from €1.25/kg to €1.40/kg.

From there, a smaller entry of Angus and Hereford lots ranged from €1.40/kg to €1.70/kg. A strong showing of continentals started at €1.85/kg for plainer cattle and topped out at €2.25/kg for better quality.

Heavy 600kg-plus bullocks averaged €2/kg and were up 15c/kg for the week. Best-quality lots here averaged €2.12/kg or €700 with their weight, while plainer types were back at €1.80/kg.

Store heifers

In the heifer ring, lighter store heifers from 400kg to 500kg averaged out at €1.89/kg. The top third in quality came into an average of €2.21/kg, while the bottom third settled at an average of €1.64/kg.

Forward store heifers weighing between 500kg and 600kg averaged €1.79/kg. Quality lots commanded a price 30c/kg to 40c/kg above the average.

Analysis for this report was generated from the MartBids app. MartBids is a collaboration between the Irish Farmers Journal and livestock marts. The app is available for download on iPhone or Android on the App Store or Google Play. With this app, all of the information that is displayed on the mart board is now available on your smartphone, long before the animal enters the sales ring.