Gortatlea Mart in Co. Kerry hosted its weekly calf sale on Monday, May 11, with approximately 1,100 calves on offer on the day.

Speaking to Agriland after the sale, mart manager Maurice Brosnan said: "A calf is the easiest thing to sell at the moment.

"There has been a great uplift in demand and the subsequent prices being paid for calves."

The manager of the Co. Kerry-based mart said there were approximately 1,100 calves on offer at the Monday sale with numbers up 20% on the same sale of last year and export buyers securing approximately 60-70% of the calves on offer.

Of these, approximately 10% were bought by customers in Northern Ireland for rearing.

The mart manager told Agriland: "With a very unsettled beef trade, calves have gone against the grain to show a significant rise in price.

"Monday's calf sale was a super trade all round. Exceptional quality calves went under the hammer, with large numbers of reared calves now coming out for sale.

"This was reflected in the prices paid of them, showing it pays to bring the calves off milk and have them ready for grass," Brosnan said.

Prices

Commenting on some of the prices paid, he said Belgian Blue-sired calves were "leading the way".

He added that these were "easily making €9-€12/kg with four 70kg Belgian Blue-cross bulls making €870/head and Belgian Blue heifers making €850/head freely".

He said that the strong Angus-sired bull calves were making from €600-€800/head and the Angus-sired heifer calves from €550-€750/head.

Brosnan also highlighted that there were a large amount of Friesian bull calves on offer, with these making from €450-€570.

The mart manager attributed this price life to a rise in the level of activity from export buyers for calves as well as continued firm farmer buyer activity.

Brosnan noted that farmer customers are also particularly active for reared calves and said that these are making from €650-€800/head with the better types making more.