Despite the dismal weather experienced in country and the consecutive beef price drops in recent weeks the mart trade seems to be holding steady.
Tullamore Mart had 250 cattle on offer on Thursday and trade had further improved slightly, according to Mart Manager Antoinette Daly.
Cattle in the Offaly venue are rising slightly every week, she said. Beef and forward steers met with a good trade and sold for €2.01-2.50/kg, while the lighter store type lots made €2.40-2.83/kg.
Store heifers ranging in weights from 290-470kg made €2.35-2.76/kg or €510-810 over, while their heavier forward and beef counterparts made €2.01-2.70/kg, she said.
There was also a selection of continental cull cows on offer and these sold from €1.98-2.72/kg.
Castlerea Mart had 650 cattle on offer on Thursday and according to Mart Manager Brendan Egan demand remained firm for most categories of stock on offer despite the heavy rainfall.
He added that demand for quality forward store cattle was on par with previous weeks with prices slightly improved for the top quality lots.
The beef and forward steers sold for €2.29-2.86/kg while their counterpart heifers made €2.33-2.70/kg.
Weanlings also remained in demand at the Roscommon venue, bulls sold for €2.55-3.51/kg while heifers made €2.80-3.41/kg.
There was also a selection of continental cull cows on offer and these sold from €1.84-2.26/kg, he said.
The selection of springers on offer sold from €960-1,600/head, while cows with calves at foot ranged in price from €1,210-2,460. The latter price was achieved for a Limousin cow and her Belgium Blue calf.
There was also a buoyant trade in Castleblayney on Friday. According to Mart Manager dairy type culls sold from €1.51-1.63/kg, while the continental type cows made €1.67-1.80/kg.
Store heifers in the Monaghan sold for €2.06-2.67/kg while their counterpart steers sold for €1.94-3.19/kg. The hammer fell on the forward and beef steers for €2.09-2.62/kg or €555-773 over.
Carnew Mart had 800 cattle on offer on Saturday and according to Mart Manager David Quinn there was a very strong trade for quality weanlings but the plainer Friesian cattle were a little easier
Beef and forward steers at the Wicklow venue sold for €750-1,050, while the lighter store lots made €550-850 over, he said.
There was also a selection of Friesian type steers on offer and the trade was a little easier for these lots, with the hammer falling at €250-700 over.
Weaning bulls remained in good demand, he added. There was strong demand from exporters he said with the top lot making €3.44/kg while generally these lots sold from €450-1,100 over.
Beef heifers at the Wicklow venue made €600-850 over while the lighter store types sold for €450-850 over.
He also said there was a small number of cows and calves on the market and these lots sold for €1,200-1,750/unit.
Mart Manager of Macroom Mart, John O’Mahony reported a good trade on Saturday which was reflected in the price paid for stock.
The early maturing Angus and Hereford type steers sold from €205-650 over with these lots making €2.00-2.40/kg, he said.
According to O’Mahony, the continental store steers made €220-905 over or €2.27-2.59/kg while their counterpart heifers made €220-735 over. The hammer fell on two Charolais heifers weighing 385kg for €1,000, he said.
He added that cull cows at the Cork venue made €90-635 over.
Kilkenny Mart reported a good trade for the 850 cattle on offer on Thursday despite the drop off in factory quotes. According to Auctioneer George Candler cull cows made €10-30/head less.
He also said the trade was somewhat easier for the plainer type lots with the plain Friesian steers harder to sell, but continentals commanded good prices.
Forward and beef stores over the 600kg mark made €1.90-2.45/kg, while the lots ranging from 500-600kg sold for €1.80-2.75/kg, he said.
The lighter steers under 400kg sold from €1.80-3.45/kg.
The hammer fell on the beef heifers for €2.00-2.60/kg or €580-980 over, while the lighter forward store heifers made €2.00-2.65/kg or €480-840 over. The lighter weaning types sold from €340-620 over (€2.00-2.65/kg), said Candler.
There was also a special entry of continental cows with calves at foot which sold from €1800-€2400/unit while the lesser lots made €1200-€1600/unit.
There was also a good trade in Bandon Mart on Monday. According to John O’Mahony there was strong demand for the 400 cattle on offer.
“The weather didn’t seem to be effecting the trade, with good quality cattle making good money,” he said.
However, he added that Friesian steers have slipped slightly on previous weeks and are now selling for approximately €1.70/kg. These animal’s would have previously sold for closer to €2/kg.
Angus and Hereford steers generally sold from €2.15-2.20/kg with the top lots making up to €2.34/kg.
He also said there were 50 cull cows on offer and these lots ranged in price from €1.54-1.66 for dairy type cows.
