Friday's weanling sale at Ballymote mart saw another strong entry of about 160 bulls and close to 100 heifers on offer.

The trade was strong once again, with farmers and agents actively snapping up all good-quality lots.

Like previous weeks though, quality was the main attraction from buyers and as a result, where plain quality and dairy cross calves were on offer, they were slower to sell than better quality types.

Bulls

The majority of the bulls on offer were from 300kg to 400kg and these sold mainly from €780 to €900, with some fancy bulls making close to €1,100/head.

Plain quality bulls in the same weight range sold mainly from €700 to €800 but some sold down to €600/head.

Lighter types were not as strong as heavier calves, especially where the quality was poor. Prices of those from 250kg to 300kg ranged mainly from €590 to €750.

The trade for weanling heifers was similar to bulls, with the best-quality types selling to €885 for a 370kg Limousin.

Heifers

Prices overall at the upper end were not as high as the bulls, with the majority of top-quality heifers over 300kg selling from €800 upwards, with average-quality types selling mainly from €700 to €800, while plainer types sold from €650/head and upwards.

Light heifers under 300kg sold mainly from €600 to €700/head for average quality types but some plain light heifers sold from €400 upwards.

Thursday’s cattle sale saw an entry of about 175 bullocks and 140 heifers on offer. Like previous weeks, the trade for heavy feeding bullocks was strong, with plenty of those from 550kg upwards selling from €1,200 to €1,350/head. Those from 500kg to 550kg sold mainly from €1,100 to €1,200 but plainer ones sold from €1,000 upwards.

Light store bullock numbers were low and these sold mainly from €850 to €1,000. The heifers on offer were lighter than the bullocks but top-quality heavy types over 500kg sold to €1,350 also with the majority of those on offer being from 450kg to 500kg.

These sold mainly from €900 to €1,100/head.