Factory agents are back firmly in place at mart ringsides around the country buying forward store cattle for feeding and factory finished cattle for next-day kill.

Buying activity had eased off for a few weeks in April, but the latest tightness in finished cattle supplies has left them with no option but to head back to marts in search of stock.

Factory agents have been very active for cows this week, with big demand for manufacturing beef driving their demand for cows.

On the other end of the weight, lighter store bullocks and heifers eased a little this week, with lighter bullocks back notably in price.

Light heifers actually improved, with the midweight range of 400kg to 600kg heifers under a little more pressure.

Mart managers are reporting quiet rings when it comes to farmer buyers, with good weather meaning silage and other fieldwork has been the priority.

Lack of rainfall

Some mart managers in the south are also citing the lack of rainfall as being a factor in some buyers reducing on numbers a little in the last week.

They say there isn’t any cause for concern yet and with rain forecast for next week, grass growth will likely correct itself again in a matter of days.

Speaking to Kilkenny Mart’s George Candler, he said: “We had a bigger sale compared to last week, with 780 cattle on offer with a 100% clearance.

“We had a high number of finished beef animals on offer, with a lot of these sellers stating they are preferring to sell at the mart and are finding that there is better competition there. Our turnover exceeded €1.4m, which is an indication of the strong trade.”

Martbids

Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that lighter bullocks met an easier trade, with top-quality bullocks in the 350kg to 400kg weight bracket back 28c/kg on last week.

Lesser-quality Friesian and dairy-cross bullocks were back, with the bottom third of bullocks in the same weight range back 12c/kg last week.

Forward store bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg weight range met a solid demand this week, with top-quality bullocks coming in at €4.69/kg, up 5c/kg on the previous week.

Heavy bullocks were also up a touch this week, with top-quality bullocks over 600kg coming in at €4.67/kg.

Average-quality bullocks in the same weight bracket came in at €4.26/kg this week, up 3c/kg on the previous week.

Mart managers are reporting big demand for forward store Aberdeen Angus cattle that require a short finish.

In the heifer rings, lighter heifers actually improved a little this week, with top-quality heifers in the 350kg to 400kg weight bracket coming in at €4.69/kg, up 11c/kg on the previous week.

Heavy heifers saw the biggest improvement, with average heifers over 600kg coming in at €4.34/kg, an improvement of 18c/kg on the previous week.

In the weanling rings, trade was solid. Top-quality weanling bulls were back a little on the previous week, but were still trading north of €5/kg. It was a similar story in the weaning heifer rings, with top-quality weanling heifers coming in at €5.27/kg, up 13c/kg on the previous week.