Ballinrobe Mart, Co. Mayo hosted a continental bullock sale recently which saw bullocks reach prices as high as €3.45/kg or €2,090/head.

Commenting on the sale, Ballinrobe Mart's Teresa Gibsey said: "Bullock prices ranged from €670 to €2,090/head or €1.52-3.45/kg.

The average price for bullocks weighing over 500kg was €2.78/kg. Lighter bullocks from 400-500kg had an average sale price of €2.76/kg, which was an increase of approximately 20c/kg on prices from 2022.

Top bullock prices from the sale:

715kg Charolais bullock sold for €2,090 or €2.92/kg;
640kg Charolais bullock sold for €1,990 or €3.11/kg;
475kg Charolais bullock sold for €1,640 or €3.45/kg;
370kg Limousin bullock sold for €1,190 or €3.22/kg.

Heifers were also in good demand on the day with prices ranging from €680 to €1,750/head or €2.00-3.37/kg.

Heifers weighing over 500kg had an average sale price of €2.56/kg and heifers in the 400-500kg weight bracket had an average sale price of €2.68/kg.

Top heifer prices from the sale:

565kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,750 or €3.10/kg;
525kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,620 or €3.09/kg;
475kg Limousin heifer sold for €1,600 or €3.37/kg;
445kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,230 or €3.70/kg;
365kg Limousin heifer sold for €1,080 or €2.96/kg.

In the most recent dry cow sale, the average price paid was €1,155/head. Cow prices ranged from €570-1,950/head with the best price going to a Limousin cow from Achill weighing 840kg and making €2.32/kg.

Ballinrobe Mart is also set to host a special continental heifer sale Wednesday (October 11).

In the weanling sale on September 25, there was "a good entry of weanlings with some top-quality weanlings coming out", Gibsey said.

Weanling bulls hit a high of €4.14/kg while weanling heifers peaked at €3.84/kg. The average price paid for weanling bulls on the day was €3.42/kg and the average price paid for weanling heifers was €2.90/kg.