The main Camera at the Mart was at last Tuesday’s general cattle sale at Athenry Mart. Mart manager Alan Barry said that numbers are increasing slowly, with about 450 head of cattle on offer at the sale.

This Charolais cross heifer, born Octobers 2017 and weighing 520kg sold for €1,000 (€1.92/kg).

Alan said that they had more store cattle on offer than beef cattle this week and, given the current climate, this helped the trade.

This Charolais cross heifer, born March 2018 and weighing 535kg sold for €1,090 (€2.04/kg).

Alan said that with pressure on beef prices, this has reduced demand for short-keep and beef cattle in the last few months.

This Limousin cross heifer, born May 2017 and weighing 615kg sold for €1,210 (€1.97/kg).

However, he added that farmers are resilient and they are still out and buying lighter stores in the hope that beef prices will improve again once the uncertainty around Brexit has been dealt with.

This Charolais cross heifer, born May 2018 and weighing 570kg sold for €1,215 (€2.13/kg).

Heavy beef bullocks from 550kg to 650kg sold mainly from €1.80/kg to €2.00/kg, with only a few U grades breaching the €2.00/kg mark.

This Saler cross heifer, born March 2017 and weighing 635kg sold for €1,300 (€2.05/kg).

Lighter store bullocks around 500kg were a better trade, with plenty of good-quality U grade types being met with much more demand than for heavy short-keep types. At the top of the market, stores around 500kg were coming into just shy of €1,200/head.

This Limousin cross bullock, born April 2017 and weighing 555kg sold for €1,010 (€1.81/kg).

There were a share of Angus and Herefords on offer also and these were met with a weaker trade. Prices averaged around €1.70/kg, but some sold from €1.60/kg upwards.

This Charolais cross bullock, born June 2016 and weighing 785kg sold for €1,520 (€1.94/kg).

Lighter stores from 400kg to 500kg were a steady trade. Prices were well back on the same time last year, but all types of good-quality continental stores were met with good farmer demand.

These four Limousin cross bullocks, born April to July 2017 and weighing 640kg on average sold for €1,205 (€1.88/kg).

Prices ranged mainly from €2.00/kg to €2.20/kg for Limousin and Charolais types, with a little more paid for better types.

The heifer trade was quite similar to bullocks. Numbers of forward beef heifers were low, but there was good demand for stores.

This pair of Limousin cross bullocks, born March 2017 and weighing 562kg sold for €1,100 (€2.07/kg).

Those from 450kg to 550kg sold mainly from €2.10/kg to €2.20/kg, with some U grades making over €2.30/kg. Lighter heifers from 400kg to 450kg sold mainly from €800 to just under €1,000/head.

This Simmental cross bullock, born April 2017 and weighing 658kg sold for €1,285 (€1.95/kg).

Alan said that Monday’s sheep sale saw a strong trade for store lambs, with prices ranging mainly from €86 to €88/head for stores from 38 to 39kg.

However, he added that the factory protests are having an impact on mart sales also.

These three Limousin cross bullocks, born June 2018 and weighing 481kg sold for €1,085 each (€2.26/kg).

Commission rates are 1.75% to the seller and €9.25 to the buyer.