The mart trade continues to ease this week, with exporters quieter than they have been for the last number of weeks.

The result of this is that weanlings have eased in price again this week, with bull weanlings falling by 24c/kg in some cases.

Nearly all categories of stock have taken a hit this week, with the exception being bullocks who had a solid week’s trading.

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Mart numbers continue to track back in marts across the country as we enter into the last month of 2025.

December is one of the quietest months in marts, with a general lull period before calf sales kick off again in early spring.

A lot of marts are looking at finishing up on the week ending Friday 19 December, with very few sales taking place the following week.

Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis, we see that bullocks had the best week’s trading, with top-quality bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg weight bracket coming in at €4.60/kg this week, up 19c/kg.

Lighter bullocks in the same quality bracket came in at €4.88/kg this week, up 16c/kg on the previous week.

Heifers didn’t fare as well in marts this week, with all heifers back in price compared with the previous week.

Top-quality heavy heifers took a big hit, with those over 600kg back 47c/kg.

Weanling bulls were also back, with average-quality bull weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket back 14c/kg to €5.03/kg this week.

Weanling heifers were also back, with top-quality weanling heifers in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €5.97/kg, back 10c/kg on the previous week.

Lighter heifers weren’t back as much, with average quality heifers in the 200kg to 300kg weight bracket back 8c/kg to €5.11/kg this week.

The other exception at the moment is breeding stock, with some very high prices being paid for top-quality breeding heifers in marts around the country.

Online TB sales are also getting more popular, with a number of marts now organising regular sales to facilitate farmers who are not able to sell their animals due to being a restricted holding.

Carrigallen Mart in Co Leitrim has had a number of these TB-restricted sales in the last few weeks, with full clearances reported at all the sales so far.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Carrigallen Mart manager Helen Kells said: “We’ve had a lot of enquiries from farmers who have been restricted in how they sell their animals as a result of a TB breakdown and it’s great to be able to help them out in getting a fair price for their animals.

“Only controlled finishing units approved by the Department of Agriculture are able to purchase at these sales and these farmers must also be approved by the mart to bid prior to the sale.

“The sale is completed 100% online with no animals leaving the farm. Videos are taken on the farm and then loaded to the online platform along with details including the weight. “

Carrigallen Mart will hold its next TB restricted sale on Monday 8 December at 4.30pm. There are 40 animals included.