Watch: butchers fight it out for fatstock in Clogher

The Northern Ireland beef trade is performing very well at the moment and well ahead of southern prices. Processor demand and a short supply of fat cattle has meant the price has been edging up in recent weeks.

This has filtered back into the mart trade, with some exceptional prices for store cattle in the last month.

Marts across the border in the south have also benefited from this demand, with wholesalers especially active in the last few months for slaughter-fit cattle in marts across the border.

The trade on Monday night followed on from what has been an exceptional few weeks in the fatstock trade north and south.

Yard manager at Clogher Valley Mart and the brainchild behind this event Robert Simpson was delighted with how it went.

“We got over 150 super cattle in through the gates, which was a real bonus and really helped trade on the night.

"This area is famous for top-of-the-range stock and it was great to be able to showcase these local producers on the night. I’d like to thank all our customers on the night from near and far,” Robert said.

Show champion

Mayo man TJ Duffy was tasked with the tough job of picking out the best ones in the pre-sale show and it was his champion which made top price on the night.

The 10-month-old Elite Ice Cream Limousin heifer was brought out by the Williamson family, having purchased her just a few months previously.

She weighed 500kg and was knocked down to Freddie Skelly from Co Down for £5,050 (€5,674).

Next-highest price went to Alan Veitch for his housewife’s choice champion, a 19-month-old Limousin heifer sired by Trueman Idol.

She weighed 600kg and was sold to Farm Gate Meats, Magherlin, at £4,000 (€4,494).

Local butchers, as well as Kitson’s Butchers from Yorkshire, made up the majority of the purchasers on the night. Clearance rate was 100%, with buyers and sellers very happy with the sale.

A hamper donated by Creightons Butcher Shops was knocked down at £700 (€786) to Bartley Finnegan from Elite Pedigree Genetics, with the proceeds going to Air Ambulance NI.

For the full sale report and more photos from the night, pick up a copy of this week’s Irish Farmers Journal, in shops on Thursday.