Weanling numbers and prices hold firm in Balla

Balla mart’s weanling show and sale brought both quality and numbers out in force, with farmer buyers, feeders and exporters prevalent around the ring and hungry for cattle. A total of 791 weanlings passed through the ring, with a clearance rate of 95 % recorded across all lots.

Mart manger Michael Nolan noted “the downturn in finished beef prices hasn’t had an effect on weanling prices. Plainer stock in particular are selling very well for their quality, while we also had good exporter activity for the higher end bulls.”

The majority of stock on offer across both the bulls and heifers were continental bred suckler beef stock, with only very small numbers of dairy beef weanlings on offer.

Exporters vied for some of the top end bulls, with agents and farmers battling for quality U and R grading stock.

The heifer ring saw huge farmer activity, with breeding type heifers the most sought after.

Bulls

Lighter bulls sold strongly, considering some poorer quality animals in this weight bracket, with an average price recorded of €5.81/kg, with better quality suckler bred stock selling from €6.20/kg upwards.

Over a quarter of the overall cattle entered into the sale were comprised of bulls 300-400kg.

These types averaged €5.34/kg, with the top third of bulls of this weight averaging €6.09/kg and the bottom third sitting on an average of €4.56/kg.

Bulls between 400-500kg averaged a respectable €5.05/kg, with a mix of top-quality bulls and some plainer types in this.

A decent number of heavy bulls, totalling 49, clocked the scales at over 450kg liveweight, with these averaging €4.88/kg, from €4.18/kg for the bottom third to €5.55/kg for the top third of bulls.

Heifers

Heifers were lower in number than the bulls, with most heifers again sitting between 300-400kg. Heifers between 200-300kg clocked an average of €5.34/kg, with better types seeing €6/kg and above being paid. A total of 141 weanling heifers weighing 300-400kg averaged an impressive €5.54/kg, with several show winners and quality breeding types in this.

The top third of heifers in this bracket achieved an average of €6.70/kg, while in the 400-450kg bracket the equivalent heifers averaged €6.59/kg, with an average overall price for these heavier types coming to €5.31/kg. Top call of the day went to the champion heifer, a Limousin-cross heifer born May 2025 and weighing 385kg selling for €4,820 (€12.52/kg), with another notable price being for twin Blue-cross heifers sold individually for €3,650 and €3,450.