In pictures: €1,120 top price as 1,050 calves sell in Bandon

Bandon Mart broke the 1,000-calf mark at its sale on Monday, with 1,068 on offer - with 1,050 of those spring 2026-registered calves.

Right through the sale, prices were riding the crest of a wave as demand kept a high pace throughout.

Friesians accounted for almost half of all calves on offer and there was no shortage of customers.

Shipping calves weighing from 50kg to 65kg were making from €250 to €350 for the most part.

Farmers buying for the home market were paying over this for heavier Friesian bulls, with a top of €500 paid for a one-month-old bull calf weighing 81kg.

There was a relatively small number of calves sold for under €200 and these were predominantly dairy-crosses weighing less than 50kg.

When it came to beef-cross calves, there were very few of those weighing over 60kg that sold for under €500 and a guide of €10/kg is a good bet for them at present, regardless of breed.

Top price

Late on, a group of Angus-cross bulls weighing 64kg came in and opened at €500 before selling for €740. They were followed by similar stock but 5kg heavier.

The second group opened at €600 before the gavel came down at €810. That was the highest price for traditional beef-crosses, with up to €790 paid for Hereford-cross bulls.

Belgian Blue-crosses made up to €910, while the top price of the sale for 2026-born calves was €1,120 paid for a group of 119kg Charolais-cross bulls.

Lighter Angus and Hereford-cross heifers were still making up to €350 for those lighter than 50kg, with a shade more for bulls.

To see just how unrecognisable the current calf trade at the west Cork venue is from the past, it’s worth delving into the Irish Farmers Journal archives. All the way back from 15 February last year, this was how prices were looking for early calves: “As a general guide, traditional beef breed-crosses and continental-crosses over 65kg were making in excess of €300 and those closer to 80kg were mostly making close to or over €400.”

More buyers

Auctioneer Denis O’Donoghue noted that there have been more buyers out earlier than usual and prices are exceptional.

“We’re as good as caught for words on the trade at the moment," he said, as he tried to explain the current demand.

‘We’ve never seen a February like it. It’s been very dear the last few weeks and today it was nearly dearer again. There’s some amount of customers out this year and most shippers are in operation and were here along with plenty of farmers buyers.”

Starting from next Monday, the weekly calf sale in Bandon Mart will commence at the earlier time of 10am as numbers are expected to get bigger.