Calves were weighed ahead of sale at Bandon Mart this week in what was a first for the west Cork venue, but has been used at other Cork Marts venues since last year.
The introduction of the board had a good trial when news filtered through ahead of the sale that sailings were cancelled this week.
The knock-on effect was plain to see for lighter Friesian bull calves.
No sailing, no sale
In a good few instances, there were no bids received. Most of these were less than three weeks old and weighed under 45kg, with some closer to 30kg in cases.
Perhaps the advent of the weighing scales in the calf sales ring could have a bigger impact than the availability of dam information.
There was solid demand for the better Friesians, with €20 and €65 the go-to price range for these.
Squarer-looking British Friesian calves over 60kg met an exceptionally strong demand, with €90 to €160 available for these and a share exceeding this price.
Beef breeds
Numbers of Angus and Hereford calves were on par with last week and their sale pattern remained stable compared with the highs and lows of the Friesian trade.
Most of the traditional beef breed-crosses across bulls and heifers sold for between €150 and €300.
While the sale headliners exceeded this price, there was also a share of these beef-cross calves sold for under this price range.
Jersey background could be the case in some, but others were just lighter and finer boned and didn’t meet the same level of competition when it came to bidding compared with the stronger calves.
Appetite for early calves
At the top end, that strong three- to five-week-old beef-cross calf weighing north of 60kg did well. Demand was that little bit higher again if there was a decent group of calves together.
Both farmers and calf buyers competed for these, showing that the appetite for an early calf remains solid.
These were a lighter type of calf than others that were on offer, as in some cases they had Jersey-cross breeding on the cow side.
Continental calf numbers were very scarce this week. Out of what was on offer, most sold from €250 up to €400, with a share selling either side of that range.
Around 930 calves were on offer in Bandon Mart this week, a lift of 200 on last year’s sale.
