Long-awaited rain starting to bolster a cautious trade

REPORTS from marts held in the second half of last week indicate that while prices didn’t get an immediate bounce from the change in the weather, there did appear to be more men active ringside.

“Prices were largely the same but there were definitely more men wanting to buy cattle,” said Jim Bushe of New Ross about last Saturday’s sale.

Thomas Potterton of Delvin Mart, whose sale was held on Thursday, added: “The rain has definitely helped. We had more men looking to buy.”

And that is about where the trade is at.

Prices remain under pressure but the hope is that with the recent rain in many places, more enthusiasm will permeate the business and prices might start to recover.

As it is, last week’s ringside returns for bullocks and heifers show positive movement in only one weight division, the forward 500-599kg section.

Your 500-599kg bullock rose on average 7c/kg (€3542/hd), while the same weight heifer managed a 6c/kg (€30-36/hd) average increase.

In both cases, the main price driver was the poorer bottom-quarter animal. Among the 500-599kg bullocks, prices were 10c/ kg dearer for the bottomquarter performers, while the poorer-conformation heifer appreciated by 8c/ kg.

Incidentally, life seems to be getting tougher for the independent fattener — those brave farmers who have no ties or contracts with the processing side of the trade: a neighbour told me he is finding it more and more difficult to compete ringside when trying to buy replacements against the highly organised big-volume finisher or factory feedlot buyer.

“It’s tough enough trying to get a price out of the factory when selling but when you go into the mart a few days later and discover that the man who has just taken you out of the cattle you wanted to buy is the same man you sold your finished bullocks to, you feel doubly scalded,” he said.

The moral of the story is that more competition can cut both ways.

Returning to the ringside figures, marts are clearly staying small; while competition did help improve the average prices for those forward heifers and bullocks last week, caution remains the watchword across the rest of the trade, especially when it comes to those lighter bullocks and heifers.

The lighter 300-399kg bullock that had steadied somewhat over the last couple of weeks got hammered last week, losing on average 31c/kg, which is €93-124/hd.

Meanwhile, the 350399kg heifer fell 13c/kg on average — €45-52/hd.

The remaining weight divisions on the bullock side, while not showing any positive returns, at least were not hammered into the ground. The 400-499kg bullock slipped back 6c/ kg on average to €1.75/kg, giving him a price range of €700-873/hd.

The 600kg+ bullock slipped just 3c/kg on average to €1.86/kg.

The remaining weight divisions on the heifer table saw the 400-499kg animal ease by just 2c/kg, while the 600kg+ heifer’s overall price remained static at €2.01/kg.

However, the poorerquality heifer took an 11c/ kg hit.