Camera at the Mart: beef calf bonanza in Bandon

You wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to writing about the calf trade in Bandon Mart this week.

Trawling through the sales late on, it was rare to see a calf not making over €100 and beef calves were comfortably making €300 for the most part, with many - especially those close to 60kg - having opening bids of €300.

Friesian bull calves were opening at the same prices and pulling in more bids as they went.

It was common to see bidding opening at €400 for traditional beef breed calves weighing around 70kg and as you moved to 75kg and over, auctioneers weren’t slow to open at €500 for choice beef-cross calves of all breeds.

Indeed, higher opening bids were looked for and received for heavy continental-cross calves.

Those high opening bids that would have been a rarity in the past happened throughout the sale, whether in the first half hour or as the sale drifted past 6.30pm.

Bonus

Trade was similar in the run-up to Christmas, but that was when supply was a fraction of what it was this week.

The standard of calf in the yard was a bonus, with many of those on offer ranging in weight from 55kg to 75kg.

The demand is also probably a reflection of the beef trade as a whole. Numbers are starting to slide slightly and that isn’t just resulting in prices holding where they were it was, they were comfortably up on average.

Angus-crosses made up 43% of the 1,808 calves on offer, while Hereford-crosses accounted for one in five of the calves on offer this week and trade was red hot for both breeds.

A general rule of thumb for both saw those close to 55kg or above make from €280 to €380, calves nearing 65kg tended to sell for over €400 and up. If a calf was 75kg or over, then over €500 and even over €600 was possible.

Continental-crosses followed a similar course, with the heavier calves especially those nearing weaning weights exceeding €700.

Some stand-out groups of Friesians included a group of 21 averaging 64kg and selling for €285. Late on, two groups of 68kg Friesian bulls sold for €320 and €355 respectively, while a lighter bunch averaging 48kg followed and made €245.

Even the much-maligned Friesian-cross were holding their own, as a bunch of 18 of them weighing 58kg made €190/head.

Lighter calves were thin on the ground and were available for between €100 and €200 for the most part across all breeds, with a small number selling for under €100.

Speaking after the sale, auctioneer Denis O’Donoghue said: “It was bananas and definitely the dearest sale of calves I’ve ever seen here.

"From start to finish, trade was on fire. It was a proper yard of old-school Bandon calves, with plenty milk in them. It was some sight and that’s a credit to the farmers who doing a super job on them. Angus- and Hereford-crosses were making €500 to €600. The last heifer was sold around 7pm, an Angus weighing 55kg and she made €430. It was mighty.”