The first week of April has always been a big week for the cattle trade, with grass buyers dominating and usually adding some life to the trade.
Last year, grass buyers moved out early and the trade actually stagnated in April for a few weeks on the back of a lacklustre beef trade and low confidence in the sector.
What a difference 12 months makes, with this week’s trade being far from lacklustre. More grass buyers this week has added more life to the trade.
Exporters and factory agents also continue to be very active around the ring.
The good weanling trade has pushed some grass buyers back into dairy-cross stock and these types have seen a lift in price in the last three weeks.
Plain spring 2024-born Aberdeen Angus or Hereford bullocks or heifers are now hitting €4/kg easily, with the better ones heading for €4.50/kg.
Lighter runner-type cattle in the 200kg to 300kg weight bracket have also seen a lift in price, with €1,000/head and over it being paid for these.
There were some very big marts of cattle in the last week, but the higher numbers did nothing to impact the trade.
Mart managers continue to be concerned about sales numbers later in the year with such high numbers moving.
They also see exporters buying a lot of the weanlings that is for sale, with the store bullock buyers being priced out of it.
What effect this will have on the back end trade for stores remains to be seen, but it will mean a lot less available for purchase come October time.
Dry cows are also an exceptional trade, with factory agents driving the price of anything with flesh.
In Dowra Mart on Saturday, a 2016-born Charolais cow weighing 920kg sold for €4,080 (€4.43/kg), while a dry cow weighing 715kg sold for €3,520 (€4.92/kg) in Elphin last Monday night.
Stock bulls are also in demand, with a 2016-born Charolais stock bull weighing 1,198kg selling for €4,270 (€3.56/kg) in Carrigallen Mart on Monday night.
Good-quality suckler outfits are now up at €3,000 to €4,000/outfit, depending on age and quality.
A number of special dairy cow sales took place across the country in the last week, with demand reported as good from mart managers.
Freshly calved dairy cows and heifers ranged in price from €2,000 to €3,000 with a lot of cows being bought around the €2,500/head mark.
Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that heavy heifers were the highlight of the trade, with top-quality heavy heifers in the 600kg-plus weight bracket coming in at €4.76/kg this week, up a massive 39c/kg on the previous week.
Average-quality heifers in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket came in at €4.26/kg this week, up 28c/kg on the previous week.
Top-quality weanling bulls also saw some gains, with the top end of bulls in the 400kg to 450kg weight bracket coming in at €5.15/kg this week.
Heifer weanlings also took a big jump, with top-quality weanling heifers in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €5.11/kg this week, up 40c/kg on the previous week.
The first week of April has always been a big week for the cattle trade, with grass buyers dominating and usually adding some life to the trade.
Last year, grass buyers moved out early and the trade actually stagnated in April for a few weeks on the back of a lacklustre beef trade and low confidence in the sector.
What a difference 12 months makes, with this week’s trade being far from lacklustre. More grass buyers this week has added more life to the trade.
Exporters and factory agents also continue to be very active around the ring.
The good weanling trade has pushed some grass buyers back into dairy-cross stock and these types have seen a lift in price in the last three weeks.
Plain spring 2024-born Aberdeen Angus or Hereford bullocks or heifers are now hitting €4/kg easily, with the better ones heading for €4.50/kg.
Lighter runner-type cattle in the 200kg to 300kg weight bracket have also seen a lift in price, with €1,000/head and over it being paid for these.
There were some very big marts of cattle in the last week, but the higher numbers did nothing to impact the trade.
Mart managers continue to be concerned about sales numbers later in the year with such high numbers moving.
They also see exporters buying a lot of the weanlings that is for sale, with the store bullock buyers being priced out of it.
What effect this will have on the back end trade for stores remains to be seen, but it will mean a lot less available for purchase come October time.
Dry cows are also an exceptional trade, with factory agents driving the price of anything with flesh.
In Dowra Mart on Saturday, a 2016-born Charolais cow weighing 920kg sold for €4,080 (€4.43/kg), while a dry cow weighing 715kg sold for €3,520 (€4.92/kg) in Elphin last Monday night.
Stock bulls are also in demand, with a 2016-born Charolais stock bull weighing 1,198kg selling for €4,270 (€3.56/kg) in Carrigallen Mart on Monday night.
Good-quality suckler outfits are now up at €3,000 to €4,000/outfit, depending on age and quality.
A number of special dairy cow sales took place across the country in the last week, with demand reported as good from mart managers.
Freshly calved dairy cows and heifers ranged in price from €2,000 to €3,000 with a lot of cows being bought around the €2,500/head mark.
Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that heavy heifers were the highlight of the trade, with top-quality heavy heifers in the 600kg-plus weight bracket coming in at €4.76/kg this week, up a massive 39c/kg on the previous week.
Average-quality heifers in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket came in at €4.26/kg this week, up 28c/kg on the previous week.
Top-quality weanling bulls also saw some gains, with the top end of bulls in the 400kg to 450kg weight bracket coming in at €5.15/kg this week.
Heifer weanlings also took a big jump, with top-quality weanling heifers in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €5.11/kg this week, up 40c/kg on the previous week.
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