Balla Mart in Co. Mayo hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Saturday, January 11, with approximately 300 cattle on offer in the sale.

According to mart manager Michael Nolan, bullocks in the 300-400kg weight category averaged €3.01/kg with store bullocks weighing from 400-500kg averaging €3.21/kg while heavier bullocks over 500kg averaged €3.04/kg.

Some of the top prices in the sale included €1,690 or €3.38/kg paid for a 500kg Limousin bullock while another 630kg Charolais-cross bullock made €2,050 or €3.25/kg. A lighter 465kg Charolais-cross bullock made €1,670 or €3.59/kg.

The mart manager said: "There were some nice heifers on offer and the average price for heifers weighing over 500kg was similar to the final sale of 2024."

Lighter store heifers weighing from 300-400kg averaged €2.83/kg while heifers weighing from 400-500kg averaged €3.04/kg and heavy heifers weighing over 500kg averaged €3.21/kg.

The mart manager noted some of the top prices from the heifer sale saying: "A smashing Limousin-cross heifer weighing 700kg made €2,480 or €3.54/kg sold by a farmer from Ballina.

"Another lighter Limousin-cross heifer weighing 565kg made €2,130 or €3.77/kg for another farmer from Williamstown in Co. Galway.

In the cull cow sale, heavy cows weighing over 500kg averaged €2.85/kg with prices in the cull cow sale reaching €2,950 for an 825kg Charolais cow. Another 825kg Charolais cull cow sold for €2,910 or €3.53/kg.

Carnew Mart in Co. Wicklow hosted its weekly cattle sale also on Saturday, January 11, with over 700 head of cattle on offer and prices up by €100/head on previous weeks.

Carnew Mart's Eugene Clune said "Both ringside and online buyers were extremely eager to purchase stock resulting in some exceptional prices especially for beef and forward-type cattle with bullocks, heifers and bulls passing the €4.00/kg mark".

Sample weanling bull prices:

306kg Charolais bull sold for €1,270;
296kg Parthenaise bull sold for €1,220;
2 287 kg Limousin bulls sold for €1,170 each

Cull cows reached €2,810 for a 900kg Limousin cow while another Limousin cow reached €2,760 and an 852kg Simmental-cross cow making €2,580.

Heifers reached €2,760 for a 738kg Limousin heifer while a 674kg Charolais heifer made €2,600.

Bullocks reached €2,590 for a 665kg Limousin-cross bullock while a lighter 316kg Charolais-cross bullock made €1,250.