This week’s Martbids analysis sees a week of trading take place just before we heard the announcement on Wednesday morning that two new cases of bluetongue have been identified.

As I write this, we know that one of these cases has been identified in Co Wexford, where all other cases have been located so far, with the other animal having been noted by the Minister of Agriculture as having “been in a number of counties during the possible infection period”.

While the low temperatures still mean that midge activity levels aren’t high enough to carry the disease, it is worrying.

ADVERTISEMENT

The ongoing implications of bluetongue now seem to be felt ringside as well, particularly in the bull weanling ring.

The last few weeks has seen lower exporter activity ringside, with buyers dropping off each week as sheds at home became full.

Happily, farmer activity shored up trade and we saw little to no difference of an average price in the last three weeks, though subsequent falls last week and this week again have pulled average bull prices down below €5/kg for the first time in a while.

Recent wet weather hasn’t been any great addition, while numbers are there at the minute, with just shy of 2,000 bull weanlings passing through Martbids marts this week.

Until exporters get cattle away or we see a huge improvement in weather, we are unlikely to see any great uptake in bull prices.

Heavy heifers

The heavy heifer trade is also under pressure over the last week, with heifers weighing from 500kg to 600kg slipping by 10c/kg, while heavier lots above 600kg fell by 31c/kg.

The cow trade has held firm, with average prices recorded this week of €3.08/kg. However, when we look at the top third of cows, we see an average price of €3.75/kg, which is just 25c/kg behind average heifer prices over the last week.

Cow numbers are still very strong, with over 1,100 on offer this week, while we saw just over 2,100 heifers (over 12 months of age) pass through the rings.

Bullocks have seen a sharp increase in price, as can be seen from the table, with top-end bullocks in particular seeing a sharp increase in price that has put average bullock prices ahead of heifers again this week, similar to a number of weeks ago.

Weanling heifers are trading exceptionally well, with price increases this week putting them ahead of bulls, with rises between 7c and 28c/kg.

Calf trade on fire

Whatever about heavier cattle and slippages in prices, the calf trade this year can only be described as on fire.

This week, we see the first week of our calf table, with comments written by Tommy Moyles.

Last year, we saw early Friesian bull prices double on 2024 levels and we have seen them double yet again this year in earlier calf sales.

Angus calves are now trading at similar levels to continentals a year ago, while continentals themselves are averaging over €600/head for Blues, Limousin and Charolais-crosses.

It’s important that farmers have their budgets done and know what they can pay for calves.