Prices up to €3.65/kg in Elphin Mart

Along with its regular cow sale on Monday night, Elphin hosted a special autumn weanling entry, which attracted an additional 300 animals.

Trade was very brisk throughout, with prices reaching as high as €3.65/kg.

Mart manager Gerry Connellan said that the overall standard was very good, with an almost-full clearance rate on the night. He added that with northern buyers showing keen interest in cull cows, they were also a big help for weanling bulls.

Trade for male weanlings peaked at €3.64/kg for an April 2020-born Charolais-cross bull, which weighed 330kg and sold for €1,200.

These lighter, shaped bull calves proved to be in very high demand, with bulls less than 400kg hitting over the €1,000 mark on numerous occasions.

Overall, the top third of these lots sold for a very impressive average of €2.83/kg.

Bulls between 400kg and 500kg were back on this slightly, but the better-quality lots, particularly the golden Charolais, sailed past the €2.50/kg mark.

However, the highest in this category came from the Limousin breed, with a November 2019-born heifer weighing 415kg selling for €1,375 (€3.31/kg).

Although smaller numbers of weanling bulls were in excess of 450kg, a total of 25 sold to an average of €2.30/kg.

A total of 110 weanling heifers were offered up, with equally impressive demand. Topping trade here was a 230kg Charolais heifer, which sold for €840 (€3.65/kg).

The lowest of the top 20 prices for weanling heifers came in at a staggering €2.97/kg. This meant that for better-quality continental-bred animals, €3/kg was the benchmark.

On the cow front, northern buyers were again very active for younger, shaped cows. In total, over 100 cull cows sold to average €1,327, with highs of up to €1,800.