Store cattle met a better trade in the country’s marts this week, with bullocks in particular seeing more money being paid for them compared with previous weeks.
Grass supplies are still an issue in the south of the country, with some farmers having to eat into second-cut supplies to keep cattle going at grass.
Temperatures have improved a lot this week and Teagasc is predicting very good grass growth for the next seven days, which should help alleviate pressure that is currently being experienced on farms.
Numbers are still pretty small, especially in the west of the country, but any cattle that are appearing in marts are being met with good demand.
Despite factory efforts to talk the trade down, factory agents are still lining the ringsides and doing business online snapping up any slaughter-fit cattle.
Cull cow trade
Speaking to a few mart managers this week and they are all still talking about the cull cow trade and how it’s kept very steady over the last few weeks.
It’s the time of year for cull stock bulls to be appearing out to marts and these are also meeting a very good trade, with well over €2/kg being paid for heavy stock bulls. I saw one five-year-old Aberdeen Angus bull weighing 960kg hitting €2,300 in a southern mart this week.
Further north, Northern Irish customers are starting to appear again, with some very hungry for forward store bullocks.
There is a also a very good demand for breeding heifers, with bulling heifers still making some exceptional prices in marts, especially anything with Belgian Blue breeding.
Exporters are also still very active, with one northeastern-based exporter currently filling out a load for north Africa due to set sail before the end of July.
Agents are said to be very active on the ground buying in marts and buying in farms to fill this load, with some big money being paid for heavy bulls this week.
Taking a look at this week’s Irish Farmers Journal Martbids analysis, we see that bullocks saw the best trade, with some big gains also being seen in the weanling rings.
Top-quality bullocks were up across all weight categories, with lighter bullocks in the 350kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €3.08/kg this week, up 17c/kg on the previous week.
Top-end heavy bullocks also met a solid trade, with bullocks over 600kg coming in at €2.98/kg this week, up 9c/kg on the previous week.
Average bullocks in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket came in at €2.54/kg this week.
Plainer Friesian bullocks are trading for between €1.90/kg and €2.20/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.
There is some export demand for Friesian bullocks, with €2/kg being paid in some marts this week for the right stock.
In the heifer rings, it was a similar story, with the trade holding pretty steady. Heavy heifers over 600kg came in at €2.99/kg this week, back 3c/kg.
In the weanling rings, it was the heavier bull calf that stood out this week, with top-quality weanling bulls in the 400kg to 450kg weight bracket coming in at €3.69/kg this week, up 17c/kg on the previous week.