It was business as usual in Drumshanbo Mart, Co Leitrim, on Friday night.

Coronavirus restrictions on the number of people around rings didn’t affect cattle numbers. Hand sanitisers were available at entry points and in the canteen.

About 60-70 people were in each ring on the night. It was a very busy mart, with close to 600 cattle in the yard for the sale.

There seems be a sense of not knowing what’s going to happen in the coming weeks and that probably added to the big numbers.

There was some apprehension on the night as to whether marts will continue over the coming weeks so farmers were taking the opportunity to sell.

Business as usual in Drumshambo Mart,Leitrim tonight.Close to 600 cattle. Plain cows back in price on last week.Good quality cows still a good trade. This May 08 Shorthorn cow weighed 790kg, sold for €1200. See https://t.co/B58bv2SqtV for online report tomorrow. @farmersjournal pic.twitter.com/XnjJSArcGW
— Adam Woods (@ajwwoods) March 13, 2020

Mart manager Eoin O’Kane told the Irish Farmers Journal: “We’ve seen strong numbers over the past few weeks but were especially busy tonight.”

Dry cows have been a remarkable trade over the last few weeks, with top-quality heavy continental cows hitting €2/kg up and down the country. That wasn’t as common last night, with poorer-quality older cows dropping in price on previous weeks. There was a distinct dampening in the appetite for cows among the regular cow buyers on the night. €1.84/kg or €1,630 for 885kg was the top call for a 2016-born pedigree Charolais cow.

Fleshed cows

Good-quality fleshed cows were making from €1.70-€1.80/kg. Older poorer-quality cows were back around €1.30/kg to €1.50/kg.

A small number of Friesian cows fresh out of the parlour struggled to make €1/kg.