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Marts throughout 2020 proved particularly strong and this was no different for the weanling trade.
With marts closing due to COVID-19 in late March, tendering and online bidding came into action from early May.
The same bite wasn’t there at the start, but once people got used to the sales platforms and people were gradually left around the ring prices started to increase.
While everyone was expecting prices to drop back after stocks were replenished, this didn’t come into fruition.
In fact, coming off a good summer season of stores, the weanling trade kicked off with a bang.
Autumn sales
Autumn weanlings hit the marts in numbers come early August and prices paid were some of the highest in recent years.
These good prices meant that higher numbers of stock were going through the mart in August and September, with sellers not willing to chance waiting to a later sale date like previous years.
This led to quite mixed weanling quality in the latter part of the season, but prices remained strong throughout for the better-quality lots.
So how did each breed perform? As expected Charolais and Limousin cattle made up the vast majority of throughput, accounting for more than 75% of all weanlings.
This was edged slightly by the Limousin breed, which had the highest percentage at 38.71%.
Angus was next after the two continental breeds, accounting for just over 10% of stock.
It must be noted that part of these weanling prices for both Angus and Limousin include some spring-born fed calves from the dairy herd.
Heifers
If we look at heifers, we can clearly see for nearly every breed prices are up on 2019 levels.
Lighter heifers from 200kg to 300kg saw the biggest increases, with averages by breed generally up between 10c and 30c/kg.
Leading the prices was the Blonde breed, with an average sale price of €2.53/kg.
This is up 28c/kg on the year, but we are looking at very small numbers sold compared with other breeds.
Blues, again, are up 46c/kg, but from a small throughput.
If we look at the two main breeds of Charolais and Limousin, we still see significant increases, rising by 16c and 18c on the year respectively.
Moving up the weights we again see the minor breeds topping averages, selling for around €2.20/kg to €2.40/kg.
Increases on the year reduce for the major breeds as the weights increase. As was reflected and publicised throughout the year, the younger, lighter and heavier muscled animal proved most in demand.
Notable changes
One of the biggest notable changes this autumn in weanling sales was the increase seen for the Angus and Hereford breeds.
Prices for bulls and heifers, across the weight brackets, are generally up 20c to 30c/kg on 2019.
This is reflected on the store trade also, with a high demand throughout the year.
Most of this is down to the continued success of the certified beef schemes, which are seeing premiums paid on top of factory price - a premium much craved by producers, given the volatility of beef price all year.
On the bull weanling front, the younger and lighter stock again noticed the biggest changes on the year. These changes were also all positive.
The highest price paid and the breed with the highest throughput of stock weighing between 300kg and 400kg was Charolais.
Their average sale price rose by 14c to settle at €2.35/kg.
Changes on the years rose to 60c/kg, but, again, these were for very small numbers, where one good batch of calves could alter results significantly.
As the bull weights increased, the price difference on the year dropped and actually was slightly negative or static for some major breeds.
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