Camera at the Mart: high prices for heifers in Granard

Granard Mart had just under 100 cattle through the ring at Monday night’s weanling and suckler sale.

Trade was described as brisk, with a lot of good-quality weanlings included in the sale.

The good-quality weanlings was matched by a few good customers, which left the trade ahead of last week in terms of prices.

Mart manager Jody Reilly said: “We’ve seen some exceptional prices paid for stock over the last few weeks, with both farmers and exporters very hungry for stock.

“We have a lot of customers looking for that top-quality store heifer weighing around 400kg to 450kg and they have been hitting €5/kg and over it for the last few weeks.

“There has been great demand for lighter heifers also, with some heifers in the 200kg to 300kg weight bracket coming into over €1,400/head.”

Top-quality heifers in the 350kg to 400kg weight bracket came in at €5.07/kg this week, up 4c/kg on the previous week.

Top prices

The top third quality bracket of weanling bulls in the 300kg to 400kg weight range came in at €5.39/kg on Monday night, with the average weanling in the same weight bracket coming in at €5.08/kg, up 32c/kg on the previous week.

Exporters are still in the driving seat when it comes to the bull weanlings, with a lot of competition for the right types of calves.

Top call in the bull section on Monday night was €3,000 paid for a January 2024-born Charolais bull weighing 600kg (€4.76/kg)

This was followed by a March 2024-born Charolais bull weighing 610kg making €2,570 (€4.21/kg).

Feeders were also out in action in the market for bull weanlings, with more weight and age to them.

A couple of older suckler cows with young calves at foot made between €2,000 and €2,500.

Granard Mart holds its weekly weanling and suckler cow sale on Monday evenings at 6pm, while its weekly bullock, heifer and dry cow sales takes place at 11am on Wednesdays.