Camera at the Mart: Ballintosig heifers steal the show in Corrin

Calved and in-calf dairy stock were in good demand at Corrin Mart on Friday last, as it held a full herd clearance sale, along with the final clearance sales of two other herds.

The most prominent of these was the well-known Ballintosig herd property of Anthony Flavin, Inch, Killeagh, who had 19 in-calf heifers on offer.

These were first up and the huge interest translated itself into active bidding, with the heifers selling for an average of €4,737/head.

The upper end of prices saw €8,300 paid for Ballintosig Fr7860 Amber 1084, a heifer with an EBI of €295, while Ballintosig Fr7752 Amber 1075, a heifer with an EBI of €296, made €7,850.

About one third of the Liskilla herd belonging to Leslie Smith, Waterfall, sold for over €2,000, with a top price of €2,540. Most cows sold from there back to €1,700, with a small number of mainly older cows selling below that price range.

The third herd featured was that of Thomas Steele, Castlemartyr.

This was the final part of his clearance sale and consisted of 17 in-calf heifers. They averaged €2,450/head, with prices ranging from a high of €3,280 back to €2,100.

Exceptional sale

Speaking after the sale, mart manager Sean Leahy said: “It was an exceptional sale, but so were the stock. We had a wide range of buyers from across the country including Donegal and Tyrone, but local buyers were very strong too. That resulted in 15 of the 19 heifers from the Ballintosig herd staying within Co Cork."

He has seen steady dairy sales in the first few weeks of this year, but, unlike 2024 where it continued on until May, he expects numbers to drop off considerably in the coming weeks.

“We have a lot of stock coming to market at the moment, but we expect clearance sales to come to an end by the middle of the month.

"We will then be concerned with calved heifers and cows, but I do see a big drop in numbers coming from late February and into March this year.”