The return of shippers with contracts for the Turkish market is a huge boost for the weanling trade, according to Martin McNamara of Ennis mart. “They are buying a slightly lesser calf, 300kgs at €800/hd, and that’s a huge help. Farmers are buying the better one at €850-900, maybe €1,000, but it’s the shippers that are helping to get the second string away.”
artin also commented that a share of men had chosen not to feed their weanlings meals, relying on grass to bring them on. “They are showing that lack of feeding when you put them up against those that were fed. But they are being bought at a price.” That price, according to Martin, being €650-750/hd.
Michael Harty of Roscrea was also well satisfied with his weanling sale last Wednesday. He noted that the payment of the first tranche of the single farm payment did nothing to dampen enthusiasm. “Farmers were very keen for that better bull at 300-400kgs and gave in general from €2.60-3.20/kg, however lighter bulls sold to €3.80/kg.” Were any of his buyers planning on returning to bull beef production? “I’d expect most of what we sold will be squeezed and put to grass next spring,” said Michael.
At Ballymote’s show and sale of weanlings, William Jones reported the majority of the bulls as selling from €3.00-3.50 — however, the very tops sold to €4.30/kg, while your weanling heifer sold “freely” from €3.00/kg.
Kevin Murphy in Enniscorthy noted a great trade for 500kg+ bullocks, with 400kg black Angus or Limousin bullocks out of good Friesian cows “€1,000/hd no bother”. However, your poorer quality dairy cross bullock at 400kgs “will be bought, but at a price” — in this case, €1.50-1.70/kg for poor quality Friesians with lesser Angus types back around €2.05-2.10/kg mark.
Tom McGuire of Ballinrobe mart noted that buyers in the west were also not keen on poorer quality Angus or Herefords. “Your poorer quality dairy bred 450kg Angus or Hereford is a difficult proposition. It’s hard to get them into a €1,000/hd,” Tom said.
A long experienced mart manager based in the west of Ireland told me that he has seen a big change in people since they returned from the lockdown.
“Prior to Covid, numbers of buyers would never really fall off until maybe six o’clock, now you could count those left around the ring at four o’clock,” he said. The reason, this man believes, is to do with the combination of how people reacted to Covid long-term and an aging population. “Men are being more careful with themselves, they appear more aware that age does bring issues and they seem to be more inclined to get their business done early and go home, or maybe they buy online.
“Covid took two to two-and-a-half years out of men’s lives, and that changed some people’s perceptions. If you were from 55 to 60 when it started, by the time ‘normality’ returned you were 57 to maybe 63. Those men felt the loss of those years.
“They had time to think about work, life, health and family, and have maybe decided life at their age is no longer about standing around a freezing-cold mart ring on wet, dark nights.”
In the know — around the marts
Enniscorthy
Kevin Murphy commented that despite a lot of cattle having gone through, his autumn sales continue strong, with plenty of demand soaking up supply.
Your continental bullock sold from €2.60-2.80/kg, with €3.00/kg also possible. Among the Angus, your poorer 400kg type sold from €2.05-2.10/kg, with similar quality at 500kgs making more, while 15 at 550kgs clicked €2.44/kg, or €1,340/hd. Friesian bullocks were scarce, with plainer types at 300-450kgs selling from €1.50-1.70, while heavier 475-500kgs types averaged €1.90-2.17/kg.
Roscrea
Michael Harty was satisfied with his weanling sale last Wednesday. He noted that the payment of the first tranche of the single farm payment did nothing to dampen enthusiasm. “Farmers were very keen for that better bull at 300-400kgs and gave in general from €2.60-3.20/kg, however lighter bulls sold to €3.80/kg.” Were any of his buyers planning on returning to bull beef production? “I’d expect most of what we sold will be squeezed and put to grass next spring,” Michael commented. With the shipping trade once again having found its sea legs, there was plenty of competition with shippers operating from €2.80-3.00/kg.
Kanturk
There was a complete clearance of the 580 animals on offer here, of which 105 were cull cows. Commenting on the trade, Seamus O’Keeffe noted that midland buyers were very keen. The standout performers on the day were two Angus bullocks neither of which had reached 36 months. The first weighted exactly one tonne (1,000kgs) and sold for €2,560, while his 920kg comrade made €2,280.
At the other end, “handy” 200kg Hereford and Angus heifers sold from €500-550/hd. While in between, eight 590kg Angus bullocks averaged €1,420, with four 535kg Angus heifers making €1,340/hd.
Ennis
There were over 1,000 weanlings on offer here, with trade for quality types reported as excellent.
Manager Martin McNamara commented that your nice 300kg Charolais or Limousin attracted farmer bids from €850-900/hd, with €1,000/hd and more also recorded.
A big bonus to the trade was the level of activity from shippers for second string types, with 300kgs of this type averaging around the €800/hd mark. Martin commented that it was obvious that some sellers had decided not to feed meals because of the cost but buyers were reacting by not going beyond €650-750/hd.
Dungarvan
The weanling sale last Wednesday had a very good turnout of both suckler and dairy bred stock, with manager Kevin Casey noting several new faces ringside. On the prices front, suckler bred bulls sold from €2.60-3.32/kg while 300kg Hereford or Angus bulls out of Friesian cows averaged from €2.00-2.50/hd, with one batch of 231kg Herefords sold for €670/hd.
On the weanling heifer side, your Angus and Hereford averaged from €2.20-2.60/kg. While farmers were dominant, the presence of shippers helped maintain a steady flow. The only animal that found the going truly tough was your 100-150kg dairy bred runner.
Ballinrobe
Asked if numbers were tightening, Tom McGuire replied that they were holding well, with this week’s sale booked to the same level as last week. Trade for stores was very buoyant with 400-500kg bullocks selling from €1,300-1,400/hd, while your better forward store from 600-650kgs sold in general from €2.50-2.80/kg.
Your poorer quality dairy bred 450kg Angus or Hereford was a difficult proposition, with Tom commenting that it was “difficult to get a €1,000/hd out of them”. Breeding heifers were a cracking trade with Tom noting that demand was such that “they could make anything” — top call saw a 560kg Limousin click €2,200.
Ballymahon
William Jones reported an entry of just over 400 for his recent show and sale of weanlings, commenting that while there was some shipper activity for the very tops, “it was largely all farmer driven”. Prices for your 250-350kg continental bull averaged in general from €3.00-3.50/kg, with the tops selling to €4.30/kg. On the heifer side, William reported €3.00/kg as being freely available for heiferswith again farmers the main buyers of Charolais and Limousin types.
