Camera at the Mart: exporters active in Elphin

Elphin Mart had a big show of weanlings out on Monday last, with 500 bull weanlings going through the ring.

The bank holiday Monday show and sale always brings out the last of the best calves from local suckler farms and Monday’s sale didn’t disappoint.

Exporters have been an important part of the trade over the last few weeks with a number of exporters now in a race to fill boatloads of weanlings due to set sail for Turkey before the end of the year.

With a 30-day quarantine period in place, this means that a lot of these weanlings need to be purchased in the next few weeks.

In general, top-quality bull weanlings in the 300kg to 400kg bracket were working off €3.10/kg to €3.50/kg, with more average lots back at €2.80/kg to €3.00/kg.

Exporters were going as high as €3.20/kg for the right type of suitable lots.

Heavier calves in the 400kg to 450kg bracket were a little easier, with more farmer buyers in the mix here. The best-quality lots were still hitting €3.00/kg to €3.30/kg, with the more average lots back at €2.70/kg to €2.90/kg.

There were a number of choice prizewinning lots crossing the €4/kg mark, with some of these lots being snapped up by specialist show calf producers.

Feedlot buyers were also active for the 500kg-plus bull, but were working off a smaller budget compared with customers for the lighter calves.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Kevin Caslin said: “We were delighted with the trade with a very high clearance rate, which means farmers were generally happy with the prices they got.

“Exporters were very active and it’s always a good trade when you have a number of them operating around a mart ring.”

Commenting on the general cattle trade, he said: “In general, good-quality cattle have held up very well. The good-quality heavy cow is also a solid trade. However, those lighter, poorer types have taken a hit in the last few weeks in line with the factory price.

“The replacement heifer trade is very strong, with a lot of confidence around the ring from farmers looking for replacement suckler stock.

“We have a big sale of heifers and cows taking place this Friday night at 7pm.

“Gabriel Sloyan from Ballyhaunis has 40 in-calf heifers, 10 maiden heifers and eoght cows with calves at foot. They are top-quality show material and we’ve had a lot of interest about them already. Online bidding is available on martbids.ie.”