Carsehall herd commands strong prices

The Carsehall youngstock dispersal by the Craig family in Limavady, took place last Thursday 26 March, with the sale conducted by Taaffe Auctions and hosted at Dungannon Mart in Co Tyrone.

With a herd average of 9,136kg at 4.67% butterfat and 3.43% protein, there was keen demand from a moderate but very active ringside attendance.

Thursdays’ sale consisted of 60 heifers scanned in-calf for autumn 2026 calving and another 40 heifers that were AI’d by sale day. All animals sold were served with sexed AI bulls.

The stock presented were consistent in quality and that was reflected in a strong average of 2,300gns. Top price was the 3,600gns paid for a December 2024 born Raffa heifer, due in early November to Peosta (sexed).

Her dam produced 10,824l @ 5.32% butterfat 3.63% protein in her third lactation.

Several other Raffa daughters in-calf to Trooper (Sexed) and due in early autumn 2026, broke the 3,000gns barrier.

All had strong butterfat of mostly over 5% and protein of over 3.6% in their pedigree, along with volumes between 9,000l and 11,000l.

Milking herd

Earlier in the week, 150 milking cows were dispersed by the Craig family, selling to a top of 5,200gns and an average around the 2,750gns mark.

According to auctioneer Brian Taaffe there was a very strong demand at the sale, especially for fresh calved cows and early autumn calvers. Fifty heifer calves were also sold after their dams and averaged around 1,000gns.