The weanling bull trade has been the highlight of the mart trade over the last number of days. Exporter activity is driving the trade, with factory negativity affecting the confidence in finisher circles.

Live exports continue to be very strong for 2023, with weanling export markets performing very well.

Turkey has been a big market for Irish weanlings in the past and, so far in 2023, almost 4,500 weanlings have been exported direct to Turkey, with over 10,000 more on roll-on roll-off lorries via Europe.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Clare Marts general manager Martin McNamara said that the weanling export markets was adding some real positivity to the trade.

“There is some great competition around the rings from a number of different exporters over the last few weeks, with great appetite for weanlings.

“It’s not just the top end of the market they are after either and that’s important, because you need a market for all types of calves.

“Speaking to them, they appear positive about the outlook for the rest of the year. Numbers of cattle are steady.

“We didn’t really see a huge glut in spring, with weather leading to a more gradual turnout of stock to marts.

“Heavier cattle are a little easier, with factory sentiment feeding back to the ringside in terms of paying very high prices for cattle close to finish.

“Numbers being exported to the North are also back, but we still have a few loads being exported every week.”

Analysis

Looking at last week’s Martbids analysis table, we see that the lighter bullocks were under the most pressure, with a number of categories across both weight and quality grades showing a decline on the previous week’s trading.

The top end of bullocks are still up at €3.20/kg, with the trade pretty much unchanged compared with last week.

Lighter bullocks in the average- and top-quality categories came in 13c/kg lower this week. Heavier, plainer Friesian bullocks actually saw a small increase in price this week.

In the heifer rings, the trade also saw a steady week, with top-quality heifers in the 400kg to 500kg weight bracket up 7c/kg compared with last week.

Average heifers and lower-quality heifers also saw an improvement in the 400kg to 500kg category.

Those in the 500kg to 600kg bracket saw an improvement of 12c/kg, while average heifers over 600kg were up 8c/kg.

Weanlings

Weanling bulls saw a top price of €3.84/kg this week for top-quality 200kg to 300kg bull calves.

The trade was up in almost all weight and quality categories, with average-quality 300kg to 400kg bulls up 4c/kg compared with last week.

Heifer weanlings weren’t as hot as bulls, but still held relatively unchanged on the previous week.

Prices in the 300kg to 400kg top-quality category came in at €3/.09/kg this week, a reduction of 5c/kg on last week.

Poorer-quality dairy-cross heifers came in a similar trade to last week, ranging in price from €2.56/kg to €2.62/kg, depending on weight.