A top price of €2,990 paid for a Simmental-cross cow weighing 1,020kg grabbed the headlines in Castlerea Marts weekly cattle sale on Thursday. However, the trade was such that there was competition from a number of sale lots with weanling bulls reaching €4.23/kg, weanling heifers €5.10/kg and the top prices for store heifers exceeding the €4/kg mark.

Manager Brendan Egan reported that the entry of 350 head sold with ease with demand outstripping supply across all category of stock. An entry of top-quality continental cows saw agents at odds and intense bidding pushing prices for a number of young cows to €3.30/kg to €3.50/kg with the top third of cows averaging €3.13/kg.

Plainer-quality suckler cows with a lower cover of flesh sold from €2.50/kg to €2.70/kg with heavy fleshed traditional breeds to €2.90/kg. A few entries of fleshed Friesian cows also sold briskly, ranging in price from €2.20/kg for lighter cows with poorer conformation to €2.50/kg for the best-quality lots.

Export demand

Demand for weanling bulls was driven by export demand with the top third of bulls weighing 300kg to 400kg averaging €4.21/kg while the average price was recorded at €3.77/kg and falling back to €3/kg to €3.20/kg for Angus-cross bulls. Bulls weighing 400kg to 450kg averaged €3.73/kg with a range in price from €3.40/kg to in excess of €4/kg.

The average price for a lower entry of weanling heifers was up to 50c/kg higher than bulls and underpinned by phenomenal returns for a few light types. This included €1,200 paid for a May born Limousin-cross heifer weighing just 235kg while the price per kilo was recorded at €4.40/kg to €4.70/kg for a handful more light heifers weighing 230kg to 280kg.

Angus-cross and Hereford-crosses in this weight range sold from €2.40/kg to €3/kg.

The average price per kilo for heifers weighing 300kg to 400kg was around the €3.70/kg mark with plainer-quality lots selling upwards of €3.10/kg. Heavier heifers weighing 400kg to 500kg averaged €3.55/kg, ranging from €3.37/kg for the bottom third of entries to €3.72/kg for the top third of entries. While heifers weighing 500kg to 600kg averaged €3.44/kg with a range from €3.27/kg to €3.58/kg.

Bullock trade

There was an entry of about 40 bullocks with the majority weighing from 500kg to 600kg. Prices ranged from €3/kg to €3.80/kg with a high percentage of lots being Aberdeen Angus-crosses.