By this time of the year the calf trade at most marts has typically calmed down, but that doesn't appear to be the case at Carnaross Mart.

The Royal County mart's weekly calf sale, which took place on Monday (July 4), had over 300 calves on offer, with a good mix of dairy and beef-sired calves on offer.

Speaking to Agriland after Monday's sale, Carnaross Mart manager Padraig McIlroy said: "We had a large showing of calves for the time of year, with 330 calves on offer at Monday's sale.

"There was a good mix of calves with the majority being four weeks or younger. There were also 40 high economic breeding index (EBI) heifers on offer."

Giving some insight into the trade, McIlroy told Agriland that the Friesian bulls on offer made from €20, up to a top call of €250 for a month-old calf.

The Hereford and Angus calves on offer ranged from €150, up to a top call of €340 for a Hereford heifer calf.

The continental calves on offer brought the highest prices of the day for a beef-sired calf with a Blonde D'Aquitaine-cross heifer selling for the top price of €780 and a Limousin-cross bull making €770.

Some more sample prices:

The high-EBI heifer calves were sold as being correct and right for breeding.

These heifer calves sold from €290, to a top price of €775 for an April-born calf.

Sample prices from heifer calves:

The breeding season on many spring-calving herds is now approaching its conclusion.

Farmers now have to make a decision around when to pull the bull from the cows and end the breeding season.

Having a defined end date is important to ensure calving does not continue on for a longer period.

A compact calving is important for a spring-calving system in order to maximise the benefit you can obtain from grass.

So, having cows calving early in the season is important and not having cows that are dry for long and calving much later than the rest of the herd is also important.