Sheep price boost with upsurge of interest at Kilkenny Mart

For the first in many months there was a bit of good news for the sheep producer with Monday’s sale at Kilkenny Mart producing some excellent prices.
There was a much bigger presence of buyers for all types, with the increase in grass growth encouraging farmers to purchases store lambs.

Due to a lot of lands being saturated it would not be suitable to allow cattle to graze these fields as poaching would occur. Store lambs are suiting the bill thus the upsurge of interest.

It was also noticeable that there was a greater demand for factory and butcher type lambs with the heavier types ranging from €150 to €164 per head factory types €115 to €142 per head with stores attracting prices from €70 to €114 per head.
All lots would have seen an increase of €8 to €10 per head compared to last week with some top lots ahead by €12 on last week’s returns.
Our final sheep sale of the year takes place on Monday, December 19.

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Weanling Sales
Our Tuesday weanling sales are winding down, with about 180 on offer last Tuesday plus 20 calves.
Our second last sale in this sector will be next Tuesday, November 22, which also includes 20 suckler cows some with calves at foot.
The final weanling sale of the season takes place on Tuesday, November 29.

Cattle sale
Thursday’s cattle sale attracted an entry of over 1000 with trade remaining very firm, especially for quality continentals, with heavy types ranging from €2.65 to €3.10 per kilo with their heifer counterparts making €2.60 to €2.80 per kilo.

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This week there are indications that beef prices are tending to increase slightly which will be badly needed for all finishers who have purchases expensive stores.
Our final cattle sale of 2022 will be Thursday, December 15, which should top off an excellent year of trading for cattle in Kilkenny Mart.

Tributes
In the past few weeks there have been many friends and acquaintances who have passed away. This week I note the passing of Fr Tom Murphy, a former All Ireland winner and associated with the great development of O’Loughlin Gaels.
He was also associated with Eddie Kerr and Eamon Doyle in setting up the No Name Club, which eventually spread nationwide and proved a great platform for young people to enjoy themselves without the influence of alcohol.

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Vicky Phelan has also died this week. She was a great campaigner for woman who were wrongly diagnosed re: cervical cancer. Even though she battled hard with her own illness she also took on the mantel of supporting all those woman that were in the same situation as herself regarding this dreadful disease. I met her when she was selected as Grand Marshall for Kilkenny’s St Patricks Day Parade.
To these two greats I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to all their family members.

Lions Club Auction
On December 1 and 8 Kilkenny Lions will be holding their Farm Auction on KCLR farm show. Monies raised by selling all these agri products will hopefully help to make Christmas a little bit brighter for the less fortunate in our community. If you would like to support this cause we would love to have you on board and I can be contacted in Kilkenny Mart.
Until next time do be careful on the farm and good buying, good selling and good luck.