January 12, 2021 6:10 am
The first week of 2021 was a quiet one for most marts around the country. We saw a number of marts choosing to postpone their reopenings due to rising Covid-19 cases.
Of the marts that did open, the numbers entered were reported to be small which can be expected for the time of year. In terms of trade, managers have been stating that last week buyers were a bit more demand for cull cows and forward cattle.
Prices reported saw continental cows selling at highs of €1.82/kg up to €2.05/kg in some marts, which would be similar to concluding 2020 prices. General prices for more store-type continental cows ranged from €1.30/kg up to €1.70/kg.
Mart report: Forward-cattle in short supply, as marts conclude for 2020
With the majority of cattle marts around the country winding up their final sales last week, numbers entered for sale were still high in some marts.
As Christmas tends to be a more positive time of year for people, it is hard to think about the threat of Brexit just on the horizon. As marts reopen in 2021, whatever impact a Brexit deal or no-deal will have should become clear quite quickly on the beef prices in the factories and cattle prices in marts.
Reflecting back to last week, a number of mart managers noted that forward-type and finishing bullocks and heifers were in short supply in some parts of the country.
AgriLand spoke to Martin during the week, to find out more about the trade on Monday.
He said: “Those heavy butcher lambs have been a flying trade for a good while now. I’d say prices for those lots were up €5/head on the previous week.
And if I was to compare the prices for them this year in comparison to last year I’d say they are running €10-15/head stronger on 2019.
“There were a couple of really good prices between €130/head and €137/head on Monday for those fat lambs.
“Looking to the factory lambs, it’s a similar story to what we have been seeing for those butcher lambs. I saw a couple of pens of 44-47kg lambs making from €114/head up to €123/head – which is great to see.
December 15, 2020 6:20 am
Ennis Mart held its weekly sheep sale on Monday (December 14), which saw 322 sheep presented for sale which was a considerable drop from the 467 that were on offer last week.
However, the smaller sale seemed to help the trade, as both lambs and cull ewes saw price increases on the previous week’s sale.
According to a spokesperson for the mart, the trade could only be described as “very strong for both lambs and ewes”.
There were some very good butcher lambs on offer and prices for these lots hit €137/head which was a considerable jump from the €130/head that topped the sale last week. The top price was achieved by a pen of 11 lambs weighing 52kg, while another heavy pen of lambs weighing 51kg sold for €132/head.