Camera at the Mart: sharper demand for lighter cattle in the Kingdom

On Monday, there was an entry of 303 cattle at Kingdom Co-op Mart's weekly general cattle sale.

There was a good brisk trade for store cattle, with cow numbers back on previous weeks.

The bulk of the cull cows on offer were dairy-bred cows.

Manager Ernest McGrath reports that cull cow numbers are well back the last two weeks as a result of the new TB rules coming into effect last week.

"Cow numbers are back over two-thirds the last week, with a lot of farmers down here now deciding to test the cows so numbers will hopefully rebound in the coming fortnight.

"The new rules have left a lot of farmers in the unknown, farmers are unsure if they can bid for certain cows and it has caused a lot of confusion and disruption to the trade.

"Good-quality young continental-bred cows sold from €3.30/kg upwards, with dairy cows carrying flesh selling from €2.50/kg up to €2.90/kg, dairy-bred cows more stored in themselves were selling from €1.70/kg to €2.20/kg."

Dairy sale

There was a dairy reduction sale as part of this week’s mart, with a mixed demand for cattle.

Younger cows in milk sold the best, with less demand for older cows both in-calf and in milk.

Cows in their second and third lactation met the sharpest demand, with cows weighing from 500kg to 550kg selling from €1,900 up to €2,030.

Cows from fourth lactation to sixth were slightly behind the young cows, selling from €1,500 to €1,900 with older cows again back selling at €1,300 to €1,500.

Bullocks and heifers

Farmers were out in force with the improvement in the weather for the store cattle on offer with factory agents driving the demand for the heavier more forward cattle. Again, like the cows the bulk of cattle on offer were of dairy origin.

Heavy well-fleshed continental bullocks sold from €3.60/kg upwards, with well-fed dairy-bred bullocks from €3.20/kg to €3.50/kg.

There was a good entry of store bullocks weighing 550kg and over, with demand not as sharp as it was for the lighter bullock, with these bullocks making from €3.20/kg to €3.60/kg.

For the top-end lots of bullocks weighing from 400kg to 500kg, they were able to make from over €4.50/kg, while the general trade for cattle of that weight was €3.80/kg to €4.40/kg.

Lighter store bullocks between 300kg and 400kg met sharp demand from farmers, with between €4.10/kg and €4.40 the going price.

Heifers

With fewer beef heifers on offer than there were bullocks, farmers bought up the bulk of the store heifers on offer.

Heifers between 400kg and 500kg sold from €3.20/kg to €3.50/kg for the bottom third of heifers, with heifers of that weight better quality able to command just shy of €4/kg.

Lighter heifers under 400kg - similar to the bullocks - met a strong farmer demand, with a better trade visible than for the heavier store heifers over 400kg, with prices of between €4/kg and €4.50/kg the going rate.