Last Saturday’s show and sale of bullocks at Mohill Mart saw a good entry of stock on offer, with numbers up slightly on last year.

Mart manager Stephen Hannon said that the quality of stock on offer was very strong.

While prices were back on last year, he said that there were plenty of buyers active, but at a price.

“Demand was strong and if we had more cattle on offer, there would have been buyers for all of them,” he said.

Heavy bullocks were a good trade, with those over 650kg selling mainly from €1,200 to €1,550 at the top of the market. Plainer types sold from €1,000 to €1,200/head.

Stephen said that average-quality heavy bullocks and older types coming close to the 30-month mark were selling for about €2.00/kg and these were mainly continental types.

Forward stores from 550kg to 650kg sold from €850/head for a plain Angus bullock to €1,050 for plainer-quality continentals. Better-quality types sold from €1,200 to €1,280/head.

Bullocks from 500kg to 550kg sold for €1,020/head on average and up to €1,210/head for top-quality types. On a price-per-kilo basis, good-quality bullocks in that weight range averaged from €2.15/kg to €2.20/kg.

Lighter stores

Stephen said that while heavy cattle were a steady trade, lighter stores were better on a price-per-kilo basis.

Those from 400kg to 500kg sold for €2.29/kg for average-quality types. Prices of these ranged mainly from €900 to €1,050, with some better-quality types making close to €1,200/head.

There were plainer-quality types on offer in that weight range also, which sold mainly from €690 for an Angus to €800 for better-quality Angus bullocks and lesser-quality continentals.

Quality was the main factor affecting prices of bullocks under 400kg. Some light, plain Angus bullocks sold for around €1.50/kg, but there were very few of these on offer.

The majority of bullocks in that weight range were continentals and these sold mainly from €730 for plain types to €920 for better-quality Charolais bullocks.

Commission rates are 2% to the seller and €9 to the buyer with an entry fee of €2/head.