Camera at the Mart: Charolais dominate numbers in Elphin

Elphin Mart, Co Roscommon, is well known for its affiliation with Charolais cattle, with the Christmas Cracker sale having been hosted there less than two weeks ago.

On Wednesday 10 December, a high influx of Charolais-cross bullocks and heifers passed through ring one, with 60 of the 107 animals on offer being Charolais-cross.

Numbers were understandably small as marts wind up for the Christmas period, though a strong clearance was recorded at 98%.

'Prices are good'

Mart manager Ciaran Lynch noted: “Prices are still good. Even though they are not where they were a few weeks ago, farmers are still generally happy with sale prices. 2024-born store cattle have probably fared better, while our sale of cull cows on Monday was very strong.

“We have a lot of buyers that are waiting to clear pen space in sheds before coming out around the ring again.”

Forward stores

The majority of cattle were of the forward store and finished types, with just seven heifers weighing below 500kg and just two bullocks below the same weight.

Heifers in the 400kg to 500kg bracket averaged €5.02/kg, with top-end heifers averaging €6/kg, while lesser-types were well below this at €4.15/kg, with these being some dairy-beef stock.

Heifers in the 500kg to 600kg bracket averaged €4.84/kg, leaving a 550kg heifer at a standing price of €2,662/head.

Top-end heifers of this weight averaged €5.32/kg, with the bottom third quality-wise averaging €4.16/kg.

Heavy heifers

A good show of heavy heifers weighing 600kg-plus averaged €4.36/kg, with the top and bottom thirds being roughly 50c/kg above and below this price respectively.

In the bullocks, forward stores weighing 500kg to kg to 600kg fared better on a price-per-kilo basis, with a share of Friesian- and Angus-crosses in the heavier bracket pulling down averages.

Bullocks between 500kg and 600kg averaged €4.46/kg, putting a 570kg forward store at €2,572.20/head.

The top third of bullocks were an average of 53c/kg higher in price, with the bottom third 54c/kg below.

Heavy bullocks above 600kg averaged €4.17/kg, with a lesser price differential seen in the top and bottom third quality wise, with top-end bullocks averaging €4.57/kg and lower quality types averaging €3.73/kg, 84c/kg in the difference.