On Saturday 6 January, Cork Marts Cahir held a special dairy dispersal sale on behalf of the representatives of the late Eamonn Carey, Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary.

There was a strong entry of 120 dairy stock, consisting of 95 in-calf cows and heifers plus 25 2023-born maiden heifers.

The herd’s milking average is 6,972 litres and 546kg of milk solids, with 4.46 butterfat and 3.58kg protein.

The herd met a full clearance, with almost 40 different buyers from all corners of the country and there was an excellent trade from start to finish.

Top call

A top call of €2,200 was recorded twice on the day, firstly for a February 2019-born in-calf cow with an EBI of €213 and secondly for a February 2022-born in-calf heifer with and EBI of €205 carrying to an Angus bull.

Next-highest price of €2,160 secured the February 2019 in-calf heifer with an EBI of €187 and calving in February to an Angus bull.

The hammer fell for two more lots at €2,120 - a March 2021-born first-calver with an EBI of €224 due to calve again early next month, while a second young cow carrying to an Angus AI bull with an EBI of €203 also secured the same sum.

Not far behind was a February 2020-born second-calver with an EBI of €194 that sold carrying to an Angus bull for €2,020, while a two-year-old autumn calver with an EBI of €258, a February 2019-born third calver with an EBI of €188 and another four-year-old spring calver with an EBI of €216 all sold for €2,000.

The sale was met with huge support locally and was an excellent opportunity for farmers looking to invest in top-class genetics from a fully milk recorded herd with excellent EBIs.

There was a huge demand for all types of stock on offer, especially for the spring-calving heifers.

The in-calf heifers typically sold from €1,700 to €2,200, while the in-calf cows averaged around the €1,650 mark.

The 25 maiden heifers on offer also sold well, averaging from €680 to €800.