It’s been another very busy week in marts across the country, with a number of big sales taking place in several counties. It’s peak show and sale season at the moment, with big numbers of weanlings coming out for sale in the last two weeks.

A few wet days over the weekend has also boosted numbers this week, with attention now turning to housing again – particularly on the more difficult land in the northwest.

Lower temperatures have also meant grass growth has fallen off and grass supplies are starting to disappear on a lot of cattle farms.

This means house to finish or head to market, with a lot more farmers making the decision to head to their local mart given where the live trade is at present.

Factory feedlots and farmer finishers ae very strong around mart rings, paying €3/kg and over for forward store cattle, so it’s hard to see how anybody could entertain taking a risk on winter finishing unless they had a contract in place with a processor.

Live exporters continue to drive the weanling trade, with a number of big orders to fill in Eastern Europe and North Africa before the end of the year.

All eyes are on the UK and the increasing areas falling into the restriction zones along the eats coast and up into the midlands.

An outbreak here could have devastating consequences for our export weanling trade, and no stone should be left unturned in trying to keep the disease away from Irish shores.

There have been a number of very good in-calf heifer sales and replacement sales over the last two weeks as well, with good weanling prices and cull cow prices injecting some confidence back into the trade for heifers.

Simmental

Ballymote had a big sale of Simmental heifers last Saturday, with some big prices paid for the top heifers along with a high average for all types of in calf, maiden and weanling breeding heifers, with a number of heifers bought for export to Northen Ireland.

Taking a look at this week’s Irish Farmers Journal Martbids analysis table, it was another largely positive week’s trading despite the bigger numbers coming on stream.

Top quality bullocks moved up in price in all weight categories this week, with 500-600kg bullocks seeing a 13 cent/kg jump in price this week.

Average quality bullocks came in at a similar trade to last week, with bullocks in the 500-600kg weight bracket up 6 cent/kg on last week.

In the heifer rings, it wasn’t as positive but there were very small shifts in the trade, with 600kg+ heifers still coming in at €3.12/kg this week. Average quality heifers in the 500-600kg weight bracket came in at €2.78/kg.

Poorer quality dairy cross heifers in the 400-500kg weight bracket came in at €2.29/kg, with some better Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle making closer to €2.50/kg in some marts this week.

Top quality bull weanlings in the 300-400kg weight bracket came in at €3.79/kg this week, a slight decline on last week’s prices.

Average quality bulls in the same weight bracket came in at €3.31/kg. In the weanling heifer rings the top heifers were back a shade this week, with the top quality heifers in the 300-400kg weight bracket coming in at €3.63/kg, a 14 cent/kg drop on the previous week.

Average quality heifer weanlings in the same weight bracket came in at €3.16/kg.