Dingle Mart held its annual fatstock show and sale on Saturday last and there was plenty of competition at the west Kerry venue, especially in the forward continental bullock and heifer classes.

After much deliberation, the judges settled on a 32-month-old Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 965kg as supreme champion and that animal went on to sell for a sale topping price of €3,220.

Reserve champion went to a 20-month-old Limousin-cross bullock that weighed 720kg and sold for €2,240.

Prices continued in a similar vein for the show cattle, with forward continentals coming close to or exceeding €3/kg. Appetite was good for traditional beef breeds too, with €2.50/kg to €2.75/kg available for these.

Exceeding expectations

Following the sale, mart manager Nelius McAuliffe said: “It’s always a good sign when you’ve a 100% clearance rate after a sale. and it definitely exceeded all expectations anyway. There was a blistering trade there across all classes in the fatstock.

"We had a factory buyer who was very anxious for stock and was paying a bit more than I was expecting, so hopefully that’s a sign beef prices are on the rise.

"We had really good demand for weanlings too. We had up to €2.10/kg paid for Friesian weanling bulls, so it’s always a good day when you see trade like that.”

Regular sale

While not hitting the same highs as the show and sale, trade bubbled along nicely in the regular sale.

Bucket-reared Friesian bull weanlings were making from €1.70/kg to €2.10/kg, while, at the upper end of the trade, 2023-born stock continental weanlings made from €2.50/kg to €3/kg.

Those prices were available across bulls and heifers and traditional beef breed weanlings made from €2.20/kg to €2.50/kg.

Farmers on the Dingle peninsula are anxious to offload dry cows following the continuous rain

Similar to most other parts of the country, farmers on the Dingle peninsula are anxious to offload dry cows following the continuous rain over the last few months.

As a result, dry cows made up a good proportion of what was on offer and forward suckler cows dominated when it came to price, with up to €1,130 over the €/kg available at the top end for really heavy cows and for those that were going for further feeding - they were making €540 with their weight.

Prices for Friesian cows varied depending on their condition.

Parlour cows made from 80c/kg to €1.20/kg, while a selection of well-fleshed cows were making over up to and over €1.50/kg, but numbers hitting those upper reaches of the trade were small. Up to €350 with their weight was available for well-fleshed Frieisans.