Camera at the Mart: grass buyers drive yearling store trade in Thurles

There was no shortage of demand for stock at Mid-Tipp Co-op Mart in Thurles for the Co Tipperary mart’s weekly cattle sale on Monday last.

A 99% clearance of the 560 cattle on offer is always a good sign of trade.

Spring 2024-born cattle made up over half of what was on offer and they were an excellent trade. Of these, half were either Angus- or Hereford-crosses and they were in great demand.

Heavier stock close to or over 350kg performed best, with €3.95/kg to €4.50/kg available for these.

Friesian bullocks generally traded for between €3.40/kg and €3.70/kg, with a few selling above and below this range.

Forward stores were more scarce this week, but what was there more than made up for it. Heavy continental-cross bullocks were comfortably making over €4/kg, with up to €4.43/kg available.

Most forward Friesian cows sold from between €2.80/kg and €3.20/kg. Lighter cows were making from €2.15/kg to €2.60/kg. There was a sprinkling of suckler dry cows too and the top price of €2,880 was paid for a 695kg Limousin-cross cow (€4.14/kg).

Speaking after the sale, mart manager Martin Ryan said: “Overall, it was a healthy trade. A general synopsis would be that numbers were probably a bit back with the bullocks, but the cows made up for it.

“They increased and maybe there was a bit of fear that factories would pull prices a little more, but the way trade went might have surprised people.

“There was probably a bit of a need for the ship to steady itself because the prices had been rising exponentially.

“Factories had two four-day weeks recently and that helped them pull prices a bit, but I don’t think they’ll have the same numbers coming out as I expect them to fall off over the next few weeks.

“We’re up about 12% compared to the same time last year. We had bigger numbers out earlier in the year than usual. What we’re seeing now is probably the third or fourth picks that farmers are bringing out of the shed.”