July is generally a quiet month in terms of mart sales, but 2024 is panning out a little differently.
Lower grass supplies, especially in the south of the country, has meant some farmers selling stores have chosen to offload a little earlier than normal.
The relatively good price of lighter stores and weanlings has also seen some farmers take the money now as opposed to wait and run the risk of the trade coming back in the autumn when numbers start to appear again.
At Carnew Mart, in the bullock ring, the trade was very similar to the previous week, with top-quality store bullocks in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket coming in at €3.03/kg.
Average bullocks in the same weight bracket came in at €2.61/kg.
Slaughter-fit bullocks weighing over 600kg were a very solid trade, with top-quality bullocks coming in at an average of €3.07/kg.
Some very big prices were paid for heavy bullocks, including €2,100 being paid for a 24-month-old Limousin bullock weighing 672kg.
In the heifer ring, it was a similar story, with heavy heifers being the highlight of the trade.
Top-quality heifers weighing over 600kg came in at €3/kg this week, up 11c/kg on the previous week’s trading.
Top-quality heifers in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket came in at €2.81/kg this week.
Angus heifers were also in demand, with a number of Angus heifers in the 500kg to 600kg weight bracket coming in at €2.50/kg to €2.70/kg this week.
Dry cows were a similar trade to last week, with the top third of cows actually up 4c/kg to €2.37/kg.
Well-fleshed suckler cows weighing 700kg to 800kg were hitting as high as €2.80/kg in Saturday’s sale.
Poorer-quality dairy cows lacking flesh were back at €1.20/kg to €1.30/kg, while better-quality store cows came in around the €2/kg mark this week.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager David Quinn said: “We had a solid demand on Saturday for all types, with a number of feeders in action looking for forward stores.
“Slaughter-fit cattle also met a very good trade, with no change on last week.
“Lighter stores which were an easier trade in recent weeks were actually improved on Saturday.
“We are expecting big demand for weanlings, with a number of exporters already enquiring as to when the first of the weanlings will come out.”
