Elphin Mart held its first sale of 2025 last Friday night, with a special sale of over 100 in-calf heifers for Roscommon farmer Michael Doorley.
Michael has been having a special sale of in-calf heifers for a number of years and has built up a strong customer base.
The sale saw a 100% clearance rate, with the average price coming in at €2,600.
A number of heifers travelled north, with the majority staying local.
The heifers weren’t the specialised Belgian Blue heifers that you sometimes see at these special in-calf sales, but more a good straight commercial farmer’s heifer and the ring was full of commercial farmers looking for good R grading heifers to fit into their suckler herd.
For the part-time farmer or for farmers who don’t want hassle at calving, they were probably a better buy than some of the extreme muscled types that are selling at some sales.
At €2,600, if a cow goes wrong, it’s not the end of the world, but at €4,600, it’s a different story.
Top call on the night went to an April 2022-born Limousin heifer scanned in-calf eight months to an easy calving pedigree Limousin bull selling for €3,680.
The top heifers in the sale all crossed the €3,000 barrier, with lesser-quality heifers selling for between €2,000 and €2,500.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Elphin Mart manager Ciaran Lynch said: “We were delighted with the sale, with some great prices being paid for the better-quality heifers.
“Dry cows continue to be an exceptional trade, so that means those farmers selling cull cows have a strong hand when they come back around the springer ring.
“We definitely saw a bigger demand for the earlier calving heifers at Friday night’s sale, with anything calving in February commanding the top prices.
“We had a few repeat customers back to buy a few heifers on the back of previous purchases doing well for them and that’s what you want to see.”
This March 2022-born Simmental heifer was scanned in-calf eight months and sold for €3,000.
This March 2022 born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €3,080.
This May 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf 8 months and sold for €2,660.
This May 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned seven months in calf and sold for €2,560.
This March 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf and sold for €2,980.
This March 2022 born Limousin heifer was scanned 8 months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3080
This April 2022-born heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €2,220.
This April 2022 born Limousin was scanned seven months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,120.
This April 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,680.
This June 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,100.
This March 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €3,040.
Elphin Mart held its first sale of 2025 last Friday night, with a special sale of over 100 in-calf heifers for Roscommon farmer Michael Doorley.
Michael has been having a special sale of in-calf heifers for a number of years and has built up a strong customer base.
The sale saw a 100% clearance rate, with the average price coming in at €2,600.
A number of heifers travelled north, with the majority staying local.
The heifers weren’t the specialised Belgian Blue heifers that you sometimes see at these special in-calf sales, but more a good straight commercial farmer’s heifer and the ring was full of commercial farmers looking for good R grading heifers to fit into their suckler herd.
For the part-time farmer or for farmers who don’t want hassle at calving, they were probably a better buy than some of the extreme muscled types that are selling at some sales.
At €2,600, if a cow goes wrong, it’s not the end of the world, but at €4,600, it’s a different story.
Top call on the night went to an April 2022-born Limousin heifer scanned in-calf eight months to an easy calving pedigree Limousin bull selling for €3,680.
The top heifers in the sale all crossed the €3,000 barrier, with lesser-quality heifers selling for between €2,000 and €2,500.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Elphin Mart manager Ciaran Lynch said: “We were delighted with the sale, with some great prices being paid for the better-quality heifers.
“Dry cows continue to be an exceptional trade, so that means those farmers selling cull cows have a strong hand when they come back around the springer ring.
“We definitely saw a bigger demand for the earlier calving heifers at Friday night’s sale, with anything calving in February commanding the top prices.
“We had a few repeat customers back to buy a few heifers on the back of previous purchases doing well for them and that’s what you want to see.”
This March 2022-born Simmental heifer was scanned in-calf eight months and sold for €3,000.
This March 2022 born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €3,080.
This May 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf 8 months and sold for €2,660.
This May 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned seven months in calf and sold for €2,560.
This March 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf and sold for €2,980.
This March 2022 born Limousin heifer was scanned 8 months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3080
This April 2022-born heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €2,220.
This April 2022 born Limousin was scanned seven months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,120.
This April 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,680.
This June 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned eight months in calf to the Limousin bull and sold for €3,100.
This March 2022-born Limousin heifer was scanned in calf eight months and sold for €3,040.
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