There was a large entry for the time of year at Saturday’s general cattle sale at Balla mart with about 400 lots of bullocks, over 300 lots of heifers and approximately 150 cows. The trade for heifers and bullocks has steadied following a reduction in average prices across all marts in recent weeks.

Good quality forward store Charolais and Limousin bullocks weighing 550kg to 640kg sold from €2.05/kg to €2.25/kg, with the best quality lots selling to €2.30/kg. The best demand was for 2014-born bullocks that are likely to command the QPS in spec bonus. Plainer quality lots sold back to €1.80/kg. Lighter store R/U bullocks weighing 450kg to 550kg sold from €2/kg to €2.35/kg for suckler-bred continentals, with plainer quality O grading lots and dairy crossbreds selling back to €1.70/kg.

There was keen demand for light stores in the 400kg to 480kg weight bracket with age on their side and ideally suited to a grass-based finishing system in 2016, with top prices for R and U grading bullocks ranging from €2.40/kg to €2.70/kg.

Pressure on factory cow prices

There was a similar trend in the heifer ring. Forward stores and slaughter fit heifers sold in general from €2/kg to €2.15/kg. Lighter R and U grades sold from €2.05/kg to €2.25/kg, while plainer quality lots sold back to €1.80/kg for O grading heifers, dairy crossbreds and plainer quality lots likely to fall outside claiming the QPS bonus.

The cow trade was influenced by pressure on factory cow prices. Good quality R grading cows weighing over 700kg sold from €1.60/kg to €1.85/kg, with the best quality U grading cows selling to €2/kg. Continental cows weighing 580kg to 680kg sold from €1.50/kg to €1.70/kg for lots suitable for a short finish and slaughter-fit cows. Lighter cows very short of flesh sold from €1.15/kg to €1.40/kg for better quality feeding cows.

An entry of Limousin and Charolais cross springing heifers weighing 600kg to 680kg and calving November to January to Limousin sires sold from an average of €1,400 to €1,650. A number of heifers exceeding 700kg liveweight sold to €1,750.