Camera at the Mart: no easing in beef calf prices despite increase in supply

Beef-cross calves made up about three-quarters of the close to 1,950 calves on offer in Bandon Mart for this week's calf sale at the west Cork venue.

The increase in supply of calves from beef sires hasn't dampened the trade in any part, as demand remained firm throughout.

Traditional beef breed-crosses from Friesian dams and weighing from 50kg to 70kg were generally selling for between €200 and €450.

Calves over that weight were making a premium, as buyers were willing to pay a little bit extra for a calf that was closer to weaning. As a result, the €500 mark was passed on a number of occasions.

Anywhere from €500 to €545 was paid for Angus- and Hereford-cross calves over or close to 80kg. However, that wasn't where prices peaked, with a number of lots making over €600.

Among these were a group of Angus bulls weighing 78kg that made €600 and prices for traditional beef breeds topped out at €645. This was paid for a bunch of 93kg Angus-cross bulls.

The top price for Hereford-crosses was paid for a group of 93kg bull calves.

Prices for continental-cross calves followed a similar vein of form for the most part. The exceptions here were a number of lots of Belgian Blue-cross bulls around 90kg that made €720 and €800 respectively.

Friesian numbers slip

Friesian numbers continue to slip, but they still accounted for almost one quarter of all the calves on offer. For the shipping calf, the general run was €110 to €240 for calves weighing over 50kg.

That accounted for a lot of the Friesians on offer, but farmer buyers were still in the mix for heavier Friesians and were paying up to €320 for these.

Dairy-cross calves under 50kg were mainly selling for under €100.

For the most part, beef-crosses from herds with Jersey genetics tended to make similar prices to those of Friesian bull calves.