Camera at the Mart: appetite continues for quality weanlings in Donegal

Donegal Mart held its fortnightly special weanling sale last Friday evening 26 January, with just shy of 400 weanlings on offer.

Like the trends we are seeing in a lot of marts around the country, the demand for good-quality suckler-bred weanlings is far exceeding all supply lines.

Exporters and feed lot buyers can’t get enough of what’s on offer and with only three cattle going home unsold at Friday’s sale in Donegal Livestock Mart, the trade for the lots that were sold was exceptional.

Donegal Mart manager Eimear McGuinness told the Irish Farmers Journal: “It’s fantastic to see such a great trade for weanlings at the moment. Farmers are being well rewarded for turning out quality stock, which is only right given the costs involved.”

Flavour of the day

With hardly any lots selling below the €3.00/kg mark, weanling bulls were the flavour of the day, securing prices as high as €4.16/kg, which was achieved for a nine-month-old Charolais-cross bull weighing 382kg that sold for €1,590.

Other notable prices in the male section included a 10-month-old Charolais-cross bull weighing 322kg that sold for €1,330 (€4.13/kg) and a Limousin-cross bull born in May 2023 and weighing 370kg that sold for €1,430 (€3.86/kg).

The top-end bulls freely crossed the €3.50/kg mark, with some choice Charolais- and Limousin-cross lots averaging €3.60/kg to €3.70/kg.

Weanling heifers

The female lots were also a super trade at Friday’s sale, with the top call of €1,670 being paid for a yearling Charolais-cross-Limousin heifer weighing 560kg (€2.98/kg).

Other top prices in this section included a June 2023-born Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 332kg that sold for €1,340 (€4.04/kg), a nine-month-old Charolais-cross heifer weighing 306kg that sold for €1,200 (€3.92/kg) and another Charolais heifer weighing 230kg that sold for €880 (€3.83/kg).

While the sale was mostly dominated by Charolais, Limousin and Belgian Blues, other quality lots also sold very well, with one Simmental-cross heifer born in April 2023 and weighing 392kg sold for €1,240 (€3.16/kg) and an Aberdeen Angus-cross heifer born in November 2022 and weighing 390kg sold for €1,060 (€2.72/kg).

A Salers-cross Shorthorn weanling bull born in January 2023 and weighing 398kg sold for €1,270 (€3.19/kg) and an eight-month-old Simmental-cross bull weighing 300kg sold for €1,080 (€3.60/kg).