Camera at the Mart: dry cows holding firm in Dowra

Dowra Mart’s first mart after the Christmas break saw demand for all types of stock equal that, or even supersede, levels seen before Christmas.

Mart manager Terry McGovern commented: “Anything with flesh, be it cull cows, bullocks or heifers, saw fierce demand.

“While there were northern buyers active, it was mainly finishers that were purchasing forward stores and fleshed types.”

Light store heifers and heifer weanlings saw highs of €3.50/kg being paid, while good continental types and some suckler-bred non-continentals saw prices in the region of €3.20/kg and above being paid.

Sample prices included an Angus-cross weighing 245kg selling for €840 (€3.42/kg) and a Limousin-cross weighing 370kg selling for €1,290 (€3.48/kg).

Heavier heifers around the 500kg mark saw the demand mentioned above from feeders, though numbers were in relatively tight supply. Short-keep and finished types sold from €3.25/kg up to €3.44/kg.

Bullocks were more plentiful in numbers, with Terry noting that many finishers who had recently killed cattle were in the market for short-keep store types to be killed out of the shed this spring.

Bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg bracket contained a good deal of dairy-beef finished animals, with prices of €3.05/kg to €3.30/kg being paid for these sorts.

Bullocks between 600kg and 700kg sold between €3.30/kg and €3.50/kg, with a top price of €3.66/kg paid.

Heavy bullocks above 700kg saw a slight decrease in price per kilo to lighter bullocks, but prices were still nicely north of €3.25/kg, with the top price of the sale being an Angus bullock weighing 830kg selling for €2,760 (€3.32/kg).

Appetite for cull cows was similar to that of heifers and bullocks, with flesh dictating demand. A total of 80 cows, being mix of feeder and fleshed types, passed through the ring.

Young, well-finished continental types sold between €2.70/kg and €3.30/kg, while older or poorer grading lots sold below €2.70/kg, though these were in the minority.