Camera at the Mart: early kick-off as 2,550 calves on offer in Bandon

Mart patrons are accustomed to sales beginning anywhere from five minutes to half an hour after the listed start time, but proceedings at Bandon Mart got under way ahead of the 10am start time this Monday.

With almost 1,900 calves in the yard by then, it made sense to get going for the sale.

Calf numbers increased by 350 head compared with last week at Bandon Mart for the weekly calf sale at the west Cork venue, with 2,550 on offer.

It’s believed to be the biggest sale of calves in Bandon and surpasses last year’s record form the same week by 172 head.

For all 2026-born stock, the lift in numbers resulted in a tempering of prices across the board.

Of the calves on offer, 2,290 were sired by either Friesian, Angus or Hereford bulls.

Strong

A price range of between €250 to €450 was the going rate for the stronger half of Friesian bulls with Angus- and Hereford-cross bulls and heifers under 55kg mostly selling within that bracket too.

A share of the better Friesian-cross bulls crept into these prices too, as did some traditional beef breed-crosses that weighed close to but under 50kg.

Heavy calves over 65kg were thinner on the ground and the number of traditional beef breed crosses exceeding €700/head were few and far between this week.

Hereford- and Angus-crosses weighing between 60kg and 75kg mostly sold for between €500 and €650, with some selling for either side of this price range.

Some calves weighing less than 45kg or with a strong hint of Jersey genetics made over €200, but for the most part they sold for below this price.

Top price

Continental-crosses dominated the highest prices, especially for calves close to weaning, with a sale-topping price of €1,150, paid for a group of six 90kg Belgian Blue-cross bulls.

A number of other Belgian Blue- and Charolais-crosses exceeded €800, but these prices was largely confined to those weighing close to or over 80kg.

Prices for lighter continental-crosses - those close to 60kg - tracked along similar lines to heavier Angus- and Hereford-crosses.

Commenting on the sale, auctioneer Denis O’Donoghue said: “This was the first sale of the year where shippers really made their presence felt and they dominated the trade, especially early on.

"Farmers traditionally would come into the sale later in the evening when it's peak here, but prices have been steady throughout the day.

"The numbers were something else and with the second weekly sale now, we’ll be close to selling 3,000 calves a week here.”

A calf sale on Thursdays has been added to Bandon Mart's weekly schedule, with just over 400 calves on offer there on Thursday last.

Later selling

A snapshot of the sale from after 7pm showed that the prices held firm throughout the day. A bunch of 71kg Friesians opened at €330 before selling at €400, while a lighter group at 61kg made €350.

A pair of 78kg Angus-cross bull calves made €710, while a group four 73kg Angus-cross bulls opened at €570 and sold for €665, while four 55kg Hereford-cross bulls made €460.