Weanling outlook buoyant as buyers ‘jostle’ for stock

THE outlook for the autumn weanling trade is shaping up to be the strongest in many years for suckler farmers.

Live exporter John Hallissey told the Farming Independent that his company plans to put a consignment of 1,900 continental weanling breeding heifers into quarantine for export to Turkey within a week.

“I hope to be working on putting together a further shipment for Turkey as soon as possible after that,” said Mr Hallissey.

“One of the problems that we have is that the good weanlings are scarce — they are not coming out yet — and we are finding it hard to get enough to make up the shipment.”

He is in the market for good continental breeding heifers —Limousin, Charolais and Belgian Blues — and potentially good Rs and U grades. The going rate is €2.50/kg to €3/kg, with the higher price going for the lighter lots.

“My advice to producers is to bring out the weanlings early and don’t be waiting for the glut in the market later. They are getting a higher price for the lighter weights and why should they be holding back to put on more weight,” said Mr Hallissey. “The stock have been travelling very well, with a recent shipment having made gains of 1kg/hd/day during the trip. “The kind of weight gain that would be good any time of the year,” he said.

At least two other exporters are reported to be very active at the ringsides where they are facing competition from home feeders.

Price in the past week are running up to €70/hd on the 2016 season.

Quality

“It is a year with a lot of the factors coming right for producers,” said Martin McNamara of Clare Marts, where the first of the seasonal weanling sales was held last week.

“The quality was very good and that was reflected in the prices which were paid. Many of the bulls were in excess of 400kgs and bull finishers were very anxious for these, and we had competition between exporters for both bulls and heifers,” he added.

Belgian Blue bulls sold for up to €3.54/kg, with €1,560 being paid for 440kgs at the top of the trade. In general the lighter weanlings sold for up to €3/kg, with the heavier weights averaging €2.70€2.80/kg.

David White of Castleisland Mart described the outlook for the autumn sales as “very positive”.

“There is not much of a difference between the bulls and the heifers this year. The good continentals at 300kgs are making €3/kg and the heavier weights are selling at €2.50-€2.80/kg,” he said.

“It is important that the bulls for export are kept under 320kg. The heavier bulls are being bought by home finishers to produce bull beef ”, he added.

ICMSA beef chairman, Michael Guinan said that he is concerned that the full potential of the live export opportunities is not being achieved. “There is a need for a cross-agency working group to be established that would specifically address all obstacles to the fullest possible development of live export opportunities,” he said.

“We know that the Turkish buyers were practically jostling each other to buy the Irish cattle upon their arrival and that is a testament to the excellence of the animals and also the lengths the shippers go to get the stock there in the best condition.”