Carnew Mart held its weekly calf sale on Saturday, February 12, which saw over 360 calves presented for sale at the Co. Wicklow-based mart.

To obtain some insight into the trade, Agriland spoke with Eugene Clune from Carnew Mart.

Giving some insight into the trade at the calf sale, Eugene said: "We had our first big sale of the year with 363 calves entered. The sale was met with a lively trade from farmers and exporters."

A number of marts in recent weeks have begun displaying dam breed for calves being sold; Saturday was the first time this was on offer at Carnew Mart.

Commenting on this, Eugene said: "Displaying the dam's breed on the board really gave buyers more confidence when buying calves - especially for buyers purchasing export-type Friesian calves."

Commenting further on the trade, Eugene said: "There was a good trade among farmers, with good coloured calves in very high demand throughout.

"There was good entry of Charolais-cross calves, a mix of bulls and heifers. These sold to a top price of €510 for a three-week-old Charolais-cross bull calf."

Some more sample prices:

Moving onto the Friesian bull calves on offer at the sale on Saturday, Eugene said: "The shipping-type calves were met with a very lively trade, selling from €55 to a top call of €120, with most of these calves selling for between €60 and €90.

"The stronger/older Friesian calves were very sought after, selling from €150 to €245, with farmers mad for calves that don’t need a lot more milk," according to Eugene.

Some more sample prices: