Castlerea Mart hosted its weekly sale on Thursday, with prices generally up across the board.

Numbers of fit cattle were small, but these demanded a premium in line with the slight increase seen in factory prices, who are thought to see a further increase in the week coming.

Fit steers of 600kg-plus saw the average sale price rise by nearly 10c/kg on the week, settling at €2/kg. This increased to €2.22/kg for the top third of bullocks sold, which is up 15c/kg on last week’s trade.

Heifers

Heifers of the same weight saw an even higher increase, hitting an average of €2.15/kg, up 20c from last week. Top of these was a 620kg Limouisn heifer which sold for €1,400 (€2.26/kg).

With no shortage of grass and talk of factory prices increasing, both heifers and bullocks between 500kg and 600kg proved very popular. Average prices rose by nearly 15c/kg, with more animals on offer.

The Irish Farmers Journal is operating the Martsbids online selling tool at Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

Heifer average in this weight division settled at €2.15/kg. Stronger more continental-type heifers rose as high as €2.40/kg, with average for the top third up 20c on the week to average €2.30/kg.

Topping this section was a two-year-old Limousin weighing 555kg which made €1,340. Lighter heifers or those with a bit of extra age generally saw prices from €1.70/kg to €2/kg.

Bullocks

Similarly, in the bullocks, while not as high, top lots easily sold past the €2.20/kg mark, but generally a price of €2.00/kg to €2.10/kg was the mark.

Lighter stock continue to be a fierce trade, with those not yet restocked having to pay heavily to secure the lots of their choice, especially with this type of stock getting in shorter supply.

The top third of steers from 350kg to 500kg sold for an impressive €2.50/kg average price.

A price of €2.61/kg was hit on two occasions for two yearling Charolais bullocks under 400kg. Average price across the board was a healthy €2.25/kg.

In the heifers of that weight, very little sold under the €2.00/kg mark, with €2.10/kg to €2.30/kg the general range.

It still remains the lighter the better, with one 16-month-old Limousin weighing 355kg selling for an impressive €1,050 (€2.96/kg).

Overall, trade can be described as very strong across the board for the nearly 500 cattle sold.