Lighter store animals saw the biggest lift in the trade for 2023. It was the Limousin breed that dominated the price increases in 2023, with both Limousins and Charolais fighting it out for the top spot in the bullock and heifer rings in 2023.

Most of the business in the store bullock and heifer trade is done in the 400-500kg weight bracket. It was the Limousin breed that came out on top here.

For the below analysis we used the average price of all breeds to analyse the different breed performance in 2023. It was the Limousin who came out on top in the 400-500kg heifer category coming in at €2.90/kg, a lift of 32 cent/kg on the 2022 price.

Charolais heifers followed close behind, coming in at €2.83/kg, a rise of 21 cent/kg on the previous year. Belgian Blue was next at €2.71/kg recording a price rise of 20 cent/kg, while Hereford heifers came in the at the lowest price of €2.38/kg, an increase of 15 cent/kg on 2022.

Heavy heifers were also in demand in 2023, and it was the Belgian Blue breed that came out on top here. Average Belgian Blue heifers weighing over 500kg came in at €2.94/kg, up 6 cent/kg on the previous year.

There were some exceptional prices paid for breeding heifers in marts around the country, with Belgian Blue genetics dominating a lot of the highest prices.

Heavy Limousin heifers recorded the biggest price increase, with Limousin heifers over 500kg coming in at €2.91/kg, 20 cent/kg ahead of the 2022 price. Lighter heifers in the 300-400kg weight bracket saw a massive jump in price in 2023.

Limousin heifers stood out here once again, recording a price increase of 49 cent/kg in 2023 to settle at a price of €2.86/kg – just ahead of Charolais heifers at €2.83/kg.

Aberdeen Angus heifers recorded the lowest price increase in this weight category, coming in at €2.40/kg, 12 cent/kg higher than the 2022 price.

In the bullock rings it was the Limousin breed that was out on top again, just pipping the Charolais breed in a lot of the weight categories with margins of just 1-3 cent/kg between them.

Bullocks

Starting off with the light bullocks, Limousin came in with the highest price per kg with €3.06/kg, a 44 cent/kg increase on the 2022 price. This was followed closely by Charolais heifers at €3.03/kg, up 29 cent/kg on the 2022 price.

Moving on to the popular 400-500kg weight category, it was another first place for the Limousin breed, with the average 400-500kg heifer coming in at €2.98/kg, up 33 cent/kg on the 2022 price.

The Aberdeen Angus breed recorded the lowest price in this weight category at €2.51/kg.

It also saw one of the lowest price increases on the 2022 price at 14 cent/kg. Heavier bullocks over 500kg saw the Limousin breed top the list again, coming in at €2.78/kg, 8 cent higher than 2022 prices.

Prices for heavy bullocks didn’t go up as much as 2022, with price increases of 8-12 cent/kg being recorded compared with price increases of 10-30 cent/kg in 2022.

Breed Breakdown

Very little has changed in terms of breed breakdown between 2022 and 2023. The Aberdeen Angus breed recorded an almost 2% increase in market share along with the Friesians, also increasing by 2%.

Charolais sired progeny being traded through marts are back by almost a percentage point, while the Limousin breed has seen a drop of just over 2%.

Belgian Blue sired progeny remained stable at 2.8% of the market, while Simmental also remained stable at 2.9%.