Camera at the Mart: boom year for calves in Tipperary Mart

Tipperary Mart held its final calf sale of the year on Saturday last, which had just over 300 calves on offer.

It was a sale heavily dominated by calves sired by traditional beef breed bulls, with 74% of the calves there either Angus- or Hereford-crosses. Of those, almost half were Angus-crosses.

The general run for both breeds saw bulls making from €380 to €655, while heifer calves generally sold for between €275 and €485.

Belgian Blues made up most of the rest and prices for these saw heifers make between €365 and €645, while bulls were making up to €725. Only three calves sold for under €200.

Young calves

Speaking after the sale, manager Mark Donovan said: “It was mainly young calves this week and very few reared calves, most were Angus or Hereford with a scattering of continentals.

“Pressure on stock numbers like [from] the nitrates derogation meant that farmers were moving stock faster and, combined with strong prices, this resulted in more calves heading for the mart.

“This has been a boom year for calves between prices and numbers.

“We sold more calves than ever sold. We’re up about 15% in calves on last year.

“There were more farmers bringing calves to the mart as the price kept changing and there were few direct sales off farms to exporters this year because of that.

“We’d love to see the same next year and it looks like trade is going to hold for the year as there’s a scarcity of numbers. The exporters got out nearly every day they wanted to which was a help to the trade.”

Quality

He also commented on the improved quality of calves that were available this spring and that there has been a falloff in the number of Friesian bull calves for sale.

“We’re seeing a lot better calves in the mart this spring and I think the weather was a big help with that.

“Farmers were able to get cows out and yards weren’t as busy, so they were able to give calves a bit more time than usual.

“There’s very much a British Friesian cow base in the area and there’s a good reputation for calves coming off those.

“We have never seen so few Friesians calves, except for maybe some of the very early sales. Barring that, they disappeared completely and I don’t see them coming back.

“We do pedigree bull sales and there’s very few customers for Friesian bulls – you might get an odd Limousin, but, after that, it’s Angus and Herefords and we’re seeing that back in the calf ring. Dairy farmers are going for easy calving. All they want is the cow up and milking.”