Rise in mart prices as numbers drop

The consensus among mart managers was that last week’s trade involved small to average size sales and steady to improved prices.

There was also a wistful acknowledgement from some that the days of Ireland being among the top producers of commercial continental cattle are now behind us.

Marion Devane of Tuam summed up the plight of the suckler industry, caught as it is between dairy expansion and government schemes aimed at reducing quality beef breeding numbers in the name of saving the planet.

“We use to have big numbers of quality weanlings in this area,” she said. “I now wonder are we going back to the days in the 1970s when it was Friesian, Shorthorn and Angus.”

In the short term, however, last week’s couple of sunny days did appear to lift spirits and prices across the country, especially among lighter stock as buyers pushed the overall average of bullocks under 500kg by 9c/kg.

But bullocks under 400kg were in short supply.

The 400-500kg store bullock rose by 9c/kg to an overall average of €2.61/ kg and the better one was also up 9c/ kg to €3.12/kg.

The biggest lift under 500kg came for the poorer 300-400kg bullock, which rose 15c/kg €2.20/kg — when shortages occur, lesser-quality animals are often the first to see a benefit.

What has caused this fall-off in numbers of 400kg cattle?

Brendan Egan of Castlerea mart reckons overall mart numbers are being affected by the large sales in December and into January.

“A lot of farmers appeared to offload a share of stock in December and early this year, and in some instances what they were left with were probably light and needed more feeding to put weight into them,” he said.

“Given silage isn’t great after last summer, that is slow to happen.”

Flurry

PJ Mulvihill of Listowel feels that following that flurry of activity in December/ January, “there could be less cattle to come”. He said that in some instances last week, he had “ten men for every bullock”.

This is all very plausible. Numbers can appear almost overnight when the weather and grass are right, but the perceived wisdom is that the big surge will be shorter-lived than in previous years.

Meanwhile, forward/factory bullock and heifers also rose significantly last week, with 600kg+ steers up 14c/ kg or €84/hd and heavy heifers up 7c/ kg or €42/hd.

These increases were driven by a flurry of processor, feeder and Northern activity, spurred on by fears that numbers of heavy cattle have at last started to diminish.

How long will the recent bout of factory reluctance to offer flat prices, in some instances, for Herefords last if their owners decide to sell through the marts?

600kg+ Hereford and Angus steers generally made €2.62-292/kg or €1,5721,752/hd in marts last week, with the equivalent heifers averaging €2.75/kg overall or €1,650/hd.

With sales numbers not huge, several marts said they have had to change their terms of credit as they can’t balance any increase in credit against the limited numbers and resultant reduced weekly turnover.

While this won’t overly concern the ordinary farmer, it may pose problems for some bigger commercial outfits who rely on bigger throughput numbers.