Mountbellew Mart in Co. Galway hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Friday, April 17, and its weekly sheep sale on Saturday, April 18.

Speaking to Agriland after the sale, Mountbellew Mart manager Oliver Noone said there was "an increased entry of cattle compared to the previous week, with a strong demand for store heifers and weanling heifers but less so for store bullocks".

He said: "There were a large number of buyers in attendance resulting in top prices for quality stock."

Sample weanling bull prices from the most recent cattle sale at Mountbellew Mart:

335kg Salers bull sold for €1,640 or €4.90/kg;
265kg Salers bull sold for €1,400 or €5.28/kg;
315kg Limousin bull sold for €1,340 or €4.25/kg.

In the cow sale, an Angus cow weighing 485kg sold for €1,030, or €2.12/kg.

Looking at store heifer prices from the sale, a 295kg Limousin heifer sold for €1,950 or €6.61/kg.

Another 575kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,610 or €4.54/kg while a 550kg Limousin heifer sold for €2,240 or €4.07/kg.

Sample weanling heifer prices from the sale:

300kg Salers heifer sold for €1,800 or €6.00/kg;
275kg Charolais heifer sold for €1,500 or €5.45/kg;
350kg Belgian Blue heifer sold for €1,680 or €4.80/kg.

The mart is set to host a special sale of store bullocks with the usual cattle sale this Friday, April 24.

Sheep sale at Mountbellew Mart

Mountbellew Mart hosted its weekly sheep sale on Saturday, April 18.

Commenting on the trade, the mart manager said that more hoggets and more spring lambs are coming out and continue to be met with "a very good trade".

He said that stag ewes (cull ewes) were similar to last week’s prices and that ewes with lambs at foot were also a very good trade.

Commenting on some of the top prices, Noone said a third crop ewe with two lambs at foot sold for €555.

Three spring lambs weighing 43kg sold for €220.00. A spring lamb weighing 54kg sold for €240.00.

A 71kg hogget ram sold for €230.00, with five spring lambs weighing 36.5kg selling for €170/head.

A pen of 11 ewe hoggets weighing 53kg sold for €228/head.

Other sheep prices from the sale:

Seven ewe hoggets weighing 61.5kg sold for €236/head;
Five ewe hoggets weighing 56.2kg sold for €230/head;
One 96kg cull ewe sold for €244/head;
Three 75.7kg cull ewes sold for €217/head;
One 95kg cull ewe sold for €252/head;
One stag ram weighing 110kg sold for €258/head.

In the breeding sheep sale, a third crop ewe with one lamb sold for €290. Three second crop ewes with three lambs sold for €345.

A first crop ewe with two lambs sold for €450.

The mart venue hosts its weekly sheep sale every Saturday.