Breifne O'Brien
April 23, 2025 6:00 am
The 1,125kg 5-year-old Angus bullock sold for €5,160 or €4.59/kg
Balla Mart in Co Mayo hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Saturday, April 19, with prices in the bullock sale reaching a record-high of €5,160 or €4.59/kg for an 1,125kg Angus bullock.
Mart manager Michael Nolan told Agriland that this is the highest price ever recorded at the mart venue for a bullock. adding that the five-year old bullock was purchased by a factory agent based in the south of Ireland.
The farmer who got the top-price was from Claremorris, Co. Mayo and had two other bullocks in the sale that sold for €4,720 and €4,440.
There were approximately 650 lots of cattle on offer in the sale, with store bullocks weighing from 300-400kg “remaining on par with last week” as the top-quality cattle made from €4.50-5.00/kg.
Some of the top bullock prices from the sale at Balla Mart were as follows:
- 265kg Charolais bullock sold for €1,540 or €5.81/kg;
- 365kg Belgian Blue bullock sold for €1,990 or €5.45/kg;
- 420kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,380 or €5.67/kg;
- 480kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,660 or €5.54/kg;
- 685kg Charolais bullock sold for €3,160 or €4.61/kg;
- 820kg Limousin bullock sold for €3,660 or €4.46/kg;
- 1,015kg Angus bullock sold for €4,720 or €4.65/kg.
Bullocks weighing from 300-400kg averaged €4.35/kg at Balla Mart, while store bullocks weighing from 400-500kg averaged €4.47/kg and heavier bullocks weighing over 500kg averaged €3.33/kg.
Harty said: “There was a great selection of heavy cattle and they got great buying with the tops making €4.40/kg from Northern buyers.
“There was nothing wrong with any of the beef cattle, they were as strong a trade as ever.
“We had a May 2023-born Limousin bullock weighing 480kg that made €2,480 or €5.17/kg, with the majority of the heavy bullocks going to Northern factory buyers.””
In the heifer sale, the mart manager said: “There was a good demand from feeders and feedlot buyers for the heifers with prices very similar to last week for stores.
“Lighter store heifers weighing from 300-400kg averaged €4.13/kg. Heifers weighing from 400-500kg averaged €4.07/kg and heifers weighing over 500kg averaged €3.89/kg.”
Some of the top heifer prices from the sale included the following:
- 280kg Angus heifer sold for €1,960 or €5.96/kg;
- 400kg Belgian Blue heifer sold for €2,250 or €5.63/kg;
- 475kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,400 or €5.05/kg;
- 590kg Limousin heifer sold for €3,000 or €5.08/kg;
- 610kg Limousin heifer sold for €3,020 or €4.95/kg.
“A smashing Belgian Blue-cross heifer weighing 735kg made €3,250 or €4.42/kg and the 610kg Limousin heifer that made €3,020 or €4.95/kg is gone for breeding,” Harty said.
The cows and breeding bulls “as usual were a good trade”, according to the Balla Mart manager, who added that dry cows “are still at record prices driven by demand from Northern Ireland”.
“There were just over 120 dry cows and 30 springers on offer this week and only two missed in the whole sale with 500kg cows averaging €3.87/kg,” he said.
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BALLA MART CATTLE TRADE MART PRICES
