Holstein heifers sell for up to £2,900 at Dungannon

The latest sale of pedigree Holstein heifers reached a top price of £2,900 at last week sale in Dungannon Mart, hosted by Taaffe Auctions.

A large entry of 74 lots saw 69 animals sell to an average of £1,663 per head, down £130 on the previous sale average.

Topping the sale was a heifer bred by Ronald McLean and Sons, Donaghmore. The heifer was purchased by Colin Irwin, Tynan, Co Armagh. The McLean family also sold heifers for up to £2,020, as well as topping the cow trade at £2,080.

The second highest priced animal was bred by Aidan McAfee, Aghadowey, selling for £2,300. The pre-show supreme champion was awarded to Charlie Weir, Waringstown, for a heifer calved in February and yielding 40 litres/day. The heifer sold for £2,150.

Other noted prices were £2,120 for a heifer bred by Austin and David Perry, Ahoghill, with Charlie Weir and Sam McCormick, both selling heifers at £1,820.

There was a draft offering of 24 heifer calves from the Stevenson Family, Newry. Heifer calves sold to an average price of £808 per head, peaking at £2,050.

Arla pulls April milk price

Processing giant Arla has announced it will be pulling its April milk price by 0.79p/l (1c/litre) for its 2,700 supply base in Britain.

Recent movement in currency has insulated the price reduction. This will bring their liquid milk for April to 27.03p/l with their manufacturing milk price to 28.13p/l.

The reduction in milk price will not sit easy with producers given the announcement that Arla brands have recorded the largest growth in the top 100 UK grocery brands. In 2016, the Arla brand increased in value by £37m.

Average NI dairy cow yielding 6,959 litres

With dairy cow numbers at a record high of 317,416 in June 2016, the average yield produced by dairy cows in Northern Ireland is 6,959 litres per year. This is based on total milk production of 2.209bn litres in 2016, according to DAERA statistics.

With the average herd size at 90 cows, this would bring annual milk production on the average dairy farm to 626,372 litres.