Cattle trade remains firm at Kilkenny Mart

From time to time we need a distraction from agri related issues.
Last weekend the Kilkenny County Final was played in UPMC Nolan Park involving James Stephens (The Village) and Shamrocks Ballyhale.

As everyone knows, hurling in Kilkenny is a serious pastime and there are lots of rivalries between clubs. On looking at this event on TV the crowd in attendance was comparatively small and for a lot of the first half very little divided the teams.

An incident early into the second half, when the Shamrocks lost a player, should have been an advantage to The Village. But it was from here on in the game the boys from Ballyhale came into their own and went on to claim the Tom Walsh Cup for the 5th time in a row.
Congrats to the Shamrocks on this great achievement in a year this club experienced lots of adversities.

I should also acknowledge Thomastown’s achievement in winning the senior Camogie championship in their defeat of Dicksboro.

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Cattle Sale
Back to agricultural matters, Thursday’s cattle sale attracted a larger entry of cattle with 1240 on offer.
Even allowing for the suggestion that quotes were reduced, trade remained firm especially for the quality continental bullocks with €2.65 to €3.20 per kilo being achieved on numerous occasions for these type of cattle.

AA bullocks with good confirmation ranged from €2.00 per kilo to €2.40 per kilo with Friesian types €1.80 to €2.20 per kilo once again depending on shape.
Holstein influenced animals are the least popular in this category.

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Heifers are also meeting a steady trade with €2.35 to €2.70 been the range for the better type animals with some exceptional lots breaching the €3 per kilo barrier.
Confidence in this sector is not being helped by the negative talk from the beef factories and the ploy of restricting numbers being offered to them by farmers. It is an expensive time for producers of livestock who are experiencing huge increases in overheads.

As I said before, the beef industry need to introduce some sort of indication for feeders of what beef prices will be available going forward. At the moment it is a gamble with huge amounts of money being risked.

Cull cows, on Thursday, saw a reduction in prices which was to be expected as quotes in the factories have fallen.

Sheep Sale
Our sheep sale on Monday attracted 800 sheep with butcher lambs ranging from €132 to €147 per head, factory types €115 to €130 and store lambs €85 to €116 per head.
The top call in this sector would be for ewe lambs.

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Weanling Sale
Our weanling sale takes place every Tuesday with calves selling at 11am, heifers at 11.20am and bull and bullock weanlings from 11.50am.
Entries for weanlings closes at 3.30pm on Mondays, cattle entries 3.30pm on Wednesday.
The office number is 056 7721407.

Remember if you cannot attend the mart you can follow all activities online by tuning into MartBids and following the sale.
If you wish to purchase online you must first be registered which is a simple process and can be done by contacting the mart office.
Until next time do be careful on the farm and good buying, good selling and good luck.