The live export trade continues to be the talk of the town this week, with some exceptional prices being paid by several exporters in marts around the country.

There’s an insatiable appetite for weanlings at the moment from Irish exporters, with all clambering to fill contracts for weanlings for Europe, the Middle East and north Africa.

A number of special autumn-born weanling sales around the country in the last seven to 10 days has boosted throughput, with many suckler farmers selling earlier than normal to capitalise on the high prices.

Special sales

Special sales in Roscrea, Balla, Dowra and Carrigallen over the last week saw some very high percentages of weanling present sold for export.

Exporters have consistently paid between €3.50/kg and €4.00/kg this week for heavy bull weanlings in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket, with more being paid for very fancy weanlings.

Feedlots have also started to ramp up their buying activity this week, with a few clashes with exporters already evident in some marts.

Farmer finishers haven’t been able to compete such is the trade at the moment, with many smaller finishers opting to stand out of the market until more weanlings come out and the trade settling back a little.

Speaking to mart managers, they don’t see a huge glut of weanlings coming at any stage.

Reduced suckler calf registrations and a steady flow of weanlings to the market over the last two months means that there likely won’t be a huge peak in numbers that is usually seen in September and October.

Exporters are also very active on the ground buying on farm, so this too will pull back big numbers heading to marts.

Dry cows have also seen a very steady trade this week, with very good money going for heavy well-fleshed suckler cows.

Northern demand has pushed on prices in recent weeks on the back of a shortage in supply of slaughter-fit cattle in Northern Ireland.

The top third of cows in this week’s Martbids analysis came in at €2.68/kg, with prices of €3/kg being paid for the very top cows in marts this week.

Average-quality cows came in at €2.20/kg.

Light dairy cows lacking flesh have been working off prices around €1.00/kg to €1.20/kg and lower for cross-bred cows.

Taking a look at this week’s Martbids analysis, we see that it was a good week for heavy bullocks, with the average price of heavy bullocks in the 600kg-plus weight range at €2.78/kg, up 23c/kg on the previous week’s trading.

Heavy heifers also saw good demand this week, with average heifers in the 600kg-plus bracket coming in at €2.90/kg this week, up 4c/kg on the previous week.

Light weanling bulls also saw increased demand, with some farmer buyers shifting back on the weight that they normally purchase such is the competition in the heavier weight categories from exporters.

Top-quality bull calves in the 200kg to 300kg weight bracket came in at €3.66/kg this week, up 21c/kg on the previous week.

Average bull weanlings in the same weight bracket came in at €3.08/kg.