Camera at the Mart: no shortage of demand at Bandon Mart store sale

There was a good turnout at Bandon Mart for the west Cork sales venue’s annual store cattle show and sale on Monday.

There was plenty of activity ringside, as factory and feedlot buyers competed for heavy forward cattle across bullocks, cows and heifers.

Angus- and Hereford-crosses between 400kg and 550kg made up the majority of bullocks and heifers on offer.

At the upper end of trade, up to €2.74/kg was available for choice lots of Angus-crosses. The better lots of bullocks sold for between €2.50/kg and €2.70/kg.

Plainer lots of these beef-crosses could be bought at around €2.40/kg.

The best of the Friesian bullocks edged into that price bracket too, with plainer ones selling from €2.15/kg to €2.30/kg.

Continentals were scarce and a number of those from suckler backgrounds came close to and broke the €3/kg mark, with a top of €3.27/kg paid for them. Heifer prices were similar to bullocks.

The dry cow trade continued its 2024 form, with prices for the best Friesian cows equaling that of bullocks of the same breed.

Cows with a bit of flesh but a bit further out from finishing could be bought at around €1.70/kg to €1.80/kg.

Heavy suckler cows were scarce, but sold at the same money as Angus- and Hereford-cross young stock.

Speaking after the sale, mart manager Sean Dennehy said: “If you were looking for value, it wasn’t the place to find it. Maybe in the lighter dry cows, but there was good trade all round. There was plenty of demand from factory and feedlot buyers and they under pinned trade.

“Runners are making savage money. Anything with good weight for age is making a premium over those that are a bit behind where they should be.

“You’d really see it in the demand for the calves weighing from 180kg to 200kg, they made great money and the ones over that price range did better again.

“You’d have to take your hat off to the farmers who have done such a good job getting calves to that weight given it was such a challenging year.

“You’d see it in the store sale too. There were a good few spring 2023-born bullocks weighing over 500kg and the good start they had helped them get there.”

He also reported on steady cow numbers throughout the year, although he noticed they have tapered off a little in recent weeks.

“Grass growth picked up and milk price lifted so farmers are inclined to hold into the cows now.”